India Falls 3-8 to USA in ITTF Mixed Team World Cup Kickoff
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Chengdu, Dec 1 (NationPress) The Indian table tennis squad endured an 8-3 defeat to the USA in their first Group 1 encounter in the opening phase of the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup on Sunday.
The competition commenced with a mixed doubles event, where India's Snehit Suravajjula and Poymantee Baisya were narrowly defeated 1-2 (10-12, 8-11, 11-4) by the American pair of Naresh Nandan and Ke Tiffany.
In the women’s singles, Yashaswini Ghorpade faced a 1-2 loss (9-11, 8-11, 11-7) against Sally Moyland, followed by Jeet Chandra's defeat in the men’s singles by a similar scoreline against Xiangjing Zhang (9-11, 9-11, 11-7).
In the subsequent men’s doubles match, Snehit Suravajjula and Jeet Chandra were edged out 2-0 (9-11, 9-11), concluding a disheartening day for the Indian contingent.
According to the tournament format, every rubber, whether singles or doubles, comprises three games. The first team to secure eight games wins the overall match.
India is positioned in Group 1 for the initial stage of the tournament alongside the reigning champions and top seeds China, Australia, and the USA. After the round-robin matches, the top two teams from the group will progress to the next stage of the competition.
The Indian team, missing experienced players like Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Sharath Kamal, and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, is set to face hosts China in their second match on Monday.
This marks the second edition of the tournament, with the inaugural event having also taken place in Chengdu last year. The hosts, China, claimed the championship, while India was unable to progress beyond the first round.
