Tokyo 2020: Indian table tennis teams a win away from securing maiden Olympic berths

The Indian table tennis teams are just a win away from securing their maiden Olympic berths. India has never made it as a team in Olympic history.

The men and women had recorded victories against Luxembourg and Sweden respectively in the Team Qualifier on Thursday and a quarterfinal finish will ensure qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Among the men, Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai, helped India to get a winning start as they defeated Gilles Michely and Eric Glod 11-9, 16-14, 11-6 in the opening doubles.

Indian paddler G. Sathiyan lost the first two games in the singles match against Luka Mladenovic before fighting back to prevail 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-6.

Sharath then conceded a game to Glod but eventually won 11-3, 11-3, 12-14, 11-5 to complete a 3-0 victory.

The Indian women too are also a win away from creating history. They beat Sweden 3-2 after Archana Kamath beat Linda Bergstrom in the fifth and deciding rubber. She won 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11.

Earlier, top-ranked Indian Manika Batra won both her singles matches over Bergstrom and Christina Kallberg 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.

India now face Romania and will have to get past them in the pre-quarterfinals on Friday.