ITTF Mixed Team WC: India lose to host China in second group stage game

Chengdu: India suffered to its second straight group stage loss in the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup after being blanked 8-0 by the hosts China on Monday. In Sunday’s Group 1 opening match of the competition’s first stage, the Indian team, without the experienced campaigners like Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, lost 3-8 to the United States. India are now at the bottom of the group standings, behind top seeds China, Australia, and the USA, after suffering back-to-back defeats. Only the top two from the group after the conclusion of the first stage will advance to the second stage of the competition. In the opening mixed doubles rubber, India’s Jeet Chandra and Pritha Vartikar lost 0-3 (8-11. 2-11, 2-11)) to Kuai Man and Lin Shidong, the world No. 2 in men’s singles, at the Sichuan Gymnasium. While world No. 88 Yashaswini Ghorpade lost the women’s singles rubber 0-3 against Wang Yidi, third in the WTT rankings (4-11, 3-11, 8-11) margin. The men’s singles saw India’s Snehit Suravajjula trail 0-2 (5-11. 9-11) against world No. 1 Wang Chuqin, bringing the tie to an end. According to the tournament format, the first team to win eight games wins the tie. As per the tournament format, each rubber, whether singles or doubles, consists of three games. The first team to win eight games wins the overall team match. India have been drawn in Group 1 for the first stage of the tournament with reigning champions and top seeds China, Australia and USA. After round-robin matches, the top two from the group will advance to the second stage of the competition. India will take on Australia in their third and final group match on Tuesday. This is the second edition of the tournament. The inaugural edition was also held in Chengdu last year. Hosts China emerged as the champions while India failed to make it past the first stage. –IANS