Indian table tennis teams a win away from Olympic berths
Delight at victories over Luxembourg and Sweden
Gondomar: The Indian men and women table tennis teams are just one win away from securing their maiden Olympics qualification after they recorded victories against Luxembourg and Sweden respectively in the Team Qualifier on Thursday.
A quarter-final finish will ensure qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. India have never made it as a team in Olympic history.
It was Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai, who helped India to get a winning start, beating Gilles Michely and Eric Glod 11-9, 16-14, 11-6 in the opening doubles.
India’s highest-ranked paddler G. Sathiyan then prevailed over Luka Mladenovic. Sharath then completed a 3-0 victory against Glod.
The Indian women beat Sweden 3-2 after Archana Kamath beat Linda Bergstrom in the fifth and deciding rubber.