World Table Tennis C'ships: Indian men's team defeats Kazakhstan, faces South Korea in Ro16

The Indian men's team reached the pre-quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Team Championships on Wednesday with a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan in the Round of 32 in Busan, South Korea.

Playing the first match of the tie, Harmeet Desai suffered an 11-9, 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 8-11 defeat against Gerssimenko Kirill.

As India trailed 0-1 in the tie, Achanta Sharath Kamal pulled one back for India to restore the parity in the tie.

Sharath Kamal beat Kurmangaliyev Alan 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, playing the third match of the tie, registered a commanding victory over Kenzhigulov Aidos to put India in a 2-1 lead.

Sathiyan, displaying his attacking mantle, defeated Aidos 11-6, 5-11, 11-2, 11-7.

Kazakhstan, however, fought back to square the score 2-2, with Sharath Kamal going down to Kirill in his second match 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 7-11.

As the tie was poised 2-2, Harmeet pulled his socks up to hand Alan an 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 defeat, completing India's nervy 3-2 win over Kazakhstan.

With the men's team's victory, now both the Indian women's and men's teams will be in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals. If they win their respective ties in the last eight to be held later today, they will seal their spots in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

While the women's team faces Chinese Taipei, the Indian men's team faces an uphill task against South Korea, who had blanked India 3-0 in the group stage.