Indian Table Tennis Thread ...

[gunsnroses]

Absolutely stunning performance. Looks like CN has 6 of the top 7 players in the world ranking and we only have 3 in the top hundred (36, 49, and 96). So is the ranking not representative of quality because players play different slates of tournament or are we on the rise? That is, will be have top 10 or even top 20 players sometime soon.

4 of the top 5 women are from China!

[gunsnroses]

Excerpts from Wang Yidi after losing to Sreeja

"The opponent is a very offensive opponent. I did not perform well in chopping the ball today. My key points were not handled very reasonably, and I did not grasp the rhythm of the game well." Wang Yidi

[gunsnroses]

India vs Chile tomorrow in the men's team event

[Sin Hombre]

Absolutely stunning performance. Looks like CN has 6 of the top 7 players in the world ranking and we only have 3 in the top hundred (36, 49, and 96). So is the ranking not representative of quality because players play different slates of tournament or are we on the rise? That is, will be have top 10 or even top 20 players sometime soon.

Sreeja will be a top-25 player soon. The others are appropriately ranked with the caveat that Ayhika is not really active in singles. The latter's play style can catch players off guard but I don't think she is a top-25 player even if she focused on singles.

[sameerph]

Our mens team beat Chile in the first match 3-0.

Our men play Poland tomorrow and women play Hungary. Poland does not have anyone ranked in top 100, so that looks an easy match for men, on womens side Hungary has 2 players ranked 88 and 90, still very much winnable.

[indiansportsfan]

These 2 matches I think are crucial to finishing #2 in the group, and hence getting a slightly weaker opponent in the last 32 round.

[sameerph]

Our womens team got a close 3-2 win against Hungary. Sreeja Akuka had a bad day, losing both her matches against lower ranked Hungarian players, that is bad after getting a win against world #2 player 2 days back. But, Manika Batra saved the day for us with 2 out of 2 wins and Ayhika Mukherjee winning her only match.

Our men lost 1-3 against Poland though with only Harmeet Desai winning his match but losing his second match against Poland #1 who also beat Achanth Sharath Kamal and Manav Thakkar also lost his match. So, for men now it looks like they will only third in our group.

Tomorrow, our men play Korea and women play Uzbekistan.

[Sin Hombre]

Men will lose to Korea.

Very surprised by Sreeja's results. She has been on a tear recently and we need her to win these kind of matches if we are to get to the last 16/8.

[gunsnroses]

And we lose to Korea in the men's team event

Korea and Poland are sure of going through to the knockout stage. Top 3 teams from each group will play in the knockout stage.
The third team to go through will be either India or Chile. India and Chile are tied on points.
Chile vs Poland and India vs New Zealand next. Hopefully we will make it as well.

[gunsnroses]

In the women's team event India vs Uzbekistan is on right now with Archana Girish Kamath winning the first match

[sameerph]

And we lose to Korea in the men's team event

Korea and Poland are sure of going through to the knockout stage. Top 3 teams from each group will play in the knockout stage.
The third team to go through will be either India or Chile. India and Chile are tied on points.
Chile vs Poland and India vs New Zealand next. Hopefully we will make it as well.

We beat Chile 3-0 and Chile beat New Zeland 3-0. So, we should be able to beat New Zeland without too many problems. We are than likely to go thru to round of 32 as third team in the group ( unless if Chile beat Poland -than it becomes complicated).

Our women beat Uzbekistan 3-0 quite easily. We are now second in the group and will have our last match against Spain. Hungary beat Spain 3-2. If we beat Spain ( which we should ), we finish second in the group, but if we get beaten by Spain, than it will be a 3 way tie between us, Hungary and Spain for 2-3-4 positions in the group. In that case, our 2 big wins against China should help us to finish second still. So, as of now we look safe for second position in the group there.

[Sin Hombre]

We should comfortably beat Spain. We should have beaten Hungary 4-1 or 5-0 as well, unsure why Sreeja lost both her matches.

The men have been terrible and will likely lose in the Round of 24.

@sameer do you know who we will play in the women, assuming we finish 2nd and win our R24. It will be the winner of Group 2, 4, 7 or 8 but unclear who.

[sameerph]

@sameer do you know who we will play in the women, assuming we finish 2nd and win our R24. It will be the winner of Group 2, 4, 7 or 8 but unclear who.

As per ITTF website-

After the round-robin is completed, the top three teams from each group advance to the knockout phase. 24 teams advance in total, getting a final shot at the title. Group winners will receive seeded positions, with the rest drawn into the knockout rounds in a way that ensures teams from the same group won’t meet again in the first round.

That is what I found. Does not say anything about next round. Where does it say it will be only between winners of group 2, 4, 7 or 8 in round of 16?

[Sin Hombre]

@sameer do you know who we will play in the women, assuming we finish 2nd and win our R24. It will be the winner of Group 2, 4, 7 or 8 but unclear who.

As per ITTF website-

After the round-robin is completed, the top three teams from each group advance to the knockout phase. 24 teams advance in total, getting a final shot at the title. Group winners will receive seeded positions, with the rest drawn into the knockout rounds in a way that ensures teams from the same group won’t meet again in the first round.

That is what I found. Does not say anything about next round. Where does it say it will be only between winners of group 2, 4, 7 or 8 in round of 16?

The winners of each group (8 teams) will be drawn into seeded positions - winner of Group 1 seeded 1st (position 1), winner of Group 2 seeded 2nd (position 32), winners of Groups 3 and 4 drawn into positions 16 and 17, winners of groups 5, 6, 7 and 8 drawn into position 8, 9, 24, 25. Each team will receive a bye.

The teams placing 2nd in the group shall be drawn into the opposite half of the respective group winners, and face a 3rd placed team in the round of 32 with the restriction that teams having played against each other in the group stage, shall not meet again in the first round of the knock-out competition.

China will be in position 1 so we will be in the other half.

[sameerph]

Oh, thanks for decoding this. So, as of now looks like Japan, Taipei, Romania or France. Hope we avoid Asian teams.

But, let us first win tomorrow and than round of 32.