In a stake-high game, Indian’s women’s have kept themselves alive in the ITTF World Team Championship Finals qualification. On Wednesday, April 29, the team emerged victorious after defeating Ukraine in the group stage match by 3-2. The win has now placed India in a dominant spot in Group 6.
The first game started with World No. 49 Manika Batra getting under pressure against Tetyana Bilenko. However, after losing the second game, she found her composure to take the win by 3-1 and in sets of 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5 to give India an early lead.
In the second game, World No. 51 Margaryta Pesotska of Ukraine defeated India’s Yashaswini Ghorpade in five-games. After losing the first two games, Ghorpade fought back and secured a dominant 11-1 win in the third. The Ukranian held her nerve in the decider round to secure the win and tie the lead at 1-1.
India’s Diya Chitale brought in a controlled game against Veronika Matiunina. The young paddler went on to win the game by a decisive 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6) while combining sharp placement with relentless tempo. India were ahead at this point by 2-1.
In another game, Pesotska deefated India’s Manika in sets of 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6 to tie the game again. But sealing the tie for India, Yashaswini Ghorpade defeated Tetiana Bilenko by 3-1 and in sets of 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7.
The victory has got India in a commanding position in the group stage now. They will next take on Rwanda in its final group fixture scheduled on Thursday. The match decides whether the Indian team goes into the main draw as group topper.
Later in the day, India’s men’s team defeated Slovakia by 3-2 in the Group 7 tie. The team has now climbed to the top of the group standings and will move ahead where they will next face against Guatemala.
A total of 64 teams have been divided into 16 groups of four and are participating in each of the men’s and women’s events. The 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships that was first staged in 2000 as a standalone competition, 26 years later is ongoing with an edition to be concluded on May 10.
