ITTF Mixed Team World Cup: India bows out with a win against Australia

The Indian table tennis team registered a consolation victory against Australia in their final group game at the 2024 ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, on Tuesday. 

Team India won the tie against Aussies 8-6, despite losing the first two matches, thanks to victories from Snehit Suravajjula, the men's doubles pair of Snehit and Jeet Chandra, and the women's doubles pair consisting of Yashaswini Ghorpade and Pritha Vartikar. 

Despite the victory, India finished last in Group A due to defeats against China and the USA and exited the tournament. 

The first match of the tie was the mixed doubles round, featuring India's Pritha Vartikar and Jeet Chandra, up against Finn Luu and Jian Fang Lay of Australia. 

Jeet and Pritha failed to hold on despite having a lead, as Australia went 1-0 up thanks to an 11-8 victory. They then pressed the gas pedal and dominated the second game, winning 11-3 and taking a 2-0 lead. 

The Indian pair did win the third game, opening India's account in the tie. 

Following that was the women's singles match, with Yashaswini playing Constantina Psihogios. The Indians started brilliantly, racing to a 5-0 lead but faltered afterwards, losing the game 11-13.

Yashaswini did not repeat the same mistake in game two. She bounced back to win 12-10 but lost the decider 6-11, and with that, the Aussies had a 4-2 lead in the tie. 

Snehit Suravajjula breathed life into the Indian challenge, by winning his match against Nicholas Lum 2-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-7), bringing the overall scoreline to 4-5. 

India then took the lead in the tie for the first time with Jeet Chandra and Snehit winning the men's doubles match against Nicholas Lum and Finn Luu 2-1 (11-8, 10-12, 11-9). 

With the tie at 6-6, the final match of the contest was the women's doubles pair, consisting of Yashaswini and Pritha against Jian Fang Lay and Constantina Psihogios. 

The Indian duo performed brilliantly, winning the match 2-0, and won the tie for India 8-6.