China yet again displayed their supremacy in table tennis by knocking out India 3-0 to storm into the quarterfinals of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships in Chengdu, China.
China did not toil hard for the win and made it to the quarterfinals without breaking a sweat as it thrashed India 3-0.
Two hours before the start of their match, the toss-sheet had a change in the Indian line-up with left-handed Manush Shah slated to play for the first time, replacing Manav Thakkar, who had a good outing. In a like-for-like change, the Chinese pitted World No. 11 Wang Chuquin, a left-hander, to face Manush in the third singles.
The 2018 Youth Olympic champion had the right measure of Manush and accomplished the task assigned to him in style, winning 3-0 against the man from Vadodara.
Harmeet Desai opened the tie against 1 Fan Zhendong, and the World No. 1 needed less than 15 minutes to dispose of Desai 11-2, 11-9, 11-5. Next on the Chinese firing line was G. Sathiyan facing Ma Long. He neutralised the lead soon after, as World No. 2 surged ahead to lead 10-8. But the top-ranked Indian at No. 37 saved two game points and levelled the score 10-10.
The 33-year-old Ma held two more game points after deuce but won on the third to take the first game 14-12. After enough warm-up in the first, the multiple Olympic and World Championships medallist finished the tie quickly, allowing just five points in the second and none in the third to post a 14-12, 11-5, 11-0 win.
The Chinese domination and the agony for India ended when Wang Chuquin beat Manush Shah 11-4, 11-5, 11-6.
Earlier, India had narrowly made it to the round of 16 after losing its last match to France 3-0.
( With inputs from ANI )
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