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Both Indian men's and women's players continued to thrive in the ongoing ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships, winning their second group stage ties in London.
The women's Indian side beat Ukraine 3-2, while the Indian men's team outclassed Slovakia by the same margin, as per Olympics.com on Wednesday. In their respective opening matches, the Indian women's team won via walkover against Uganda, while the men's team clean-swept Tunisia 3-0. Coming to the women's competition, the world number 48 Manika Batra started India's match on a good note, outclassing Olympian Tetyana Bilenko 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5), which was followed by Yashaswini Ghorpade losing to world number 51 Margaryta Pesotska. Despite a valiant fight back, the world number 61 Indian lost 3-2 (11-7, 11-8, 1-11, 9-11, 11-9) Diya Chitale brought India's fortunes back on track, securing a 3-0 win over Veronika Matiunina. Manika returned for her second rubber of the day, but lost to Pesotska 3-1 (11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6), making the scoreline level at 2-2. Ghorpade came in clutch in the decider, sealing the tie for India with a well-compiled 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7) win over Tetyana Bilenko. The Indian women's team's next challenge will be Rwanda in their final Stage 1b Group 6 match on Thursday. Coming to the men's competition, the world number 51 Manush Shah lost 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6) against Lubomir Pistej before Manav Thakkar staged a comeback for India with a 3-0 win (11-6, 11-8, 11-6) over Jakub Zelinka. Slovakia took back the lead yet again as Olympian Yang Wang beat Asian Games medalist Harmeet Desai 3-0 (16-14, 11-5, 11-9), but Manav, returning for his second rubber of the day, brought the scoreline level with a 3-0 win over Pistej. Manush, who had started with a loss, sealed the tie for India, beating Zelinka 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7). Guatemala will be India's next challenge in their final Stage 1b Group 7 match. The tournament is witnessing 64 teams participating, divided in four groups of 16 teams each. (ANI)
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