Indian men mess it up

Indian men frittered away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 against Austria in the World team table tennis championship here on Wednesday. With the defeat, their chances of making it to knock-out (round of 16) are as good as over. Now, they will play for positions 13 to 24.

Korea Republic, Croatia and Austria have qualified from Group-D to the round of 16.

Decision lauded

Meanwhile in the women’s section, North and South Korea opted not to play each other in the quarterfinals, deciding instead to field a joint team for the semifinals.

The move earned a “standing ovation” from federation delegates at the championship.

The result: Group D: India bt Austria 3-2 (Sharath Kamal bt Stefan Fegerl 11-7, 19-17, 11-8; G. Sathiyan bt Robert Gardos 11-4, 11-6, 7-11, 15-13; Harmeet Desai lost to Daniel Habesohn 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 6-11; Sharath lost to Gardos 11-2, 11-8, 11-9; Sathiyan lost to Fegerl 13-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9).