India lost 1-3 against technically better Germany in the quarterfinals of the women’s table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics, despite a brief fight back by Archana Kamath.
India lost 1-3 to technically better Germany in the women’s table tennis team event quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, despite a brief fight back from Archana Kamath. The defeat marked the end of India’s table tennis campaign. In the first doubles match, the German team of Yuan Wan and Xiona Shan defeated the Indian combination of Sreeja Akula and Archana 5-11 11-8 10-12 6-11. Up until the third game, when they fell in deuce, Sreeja and Archana were holding the fort. They then dropped the match.
The Indian women’s team, which consists of Manika, Sreeja, and Archana, defeated Romania, a team with a better ranking, 3-2 in an exciting match on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the pre-quarterfinals on Tuesday, the Indian men’s team, captained by veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, lost 0-3 to formidable China.
Manika and Sreeja, who became the first Indian players to advance past the round of 16 in the individual Olympic table tennis competition, had written table tennis history. Unfortunately, the two were defeated by opponents with higher ranks and were unable to advance above that point.India participated in its first Olympic team competition at the Paris Games. Table tennis team events for men and women were first presented at the 2008 Beijing Games.
