Sreeja Akula came up with two important wins to help the Indian women’s team complete a 3-1 win over Egypt and book a spot in the main draw of 16 teams at the ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships in Chengdu, China, on Monday.

Meanwhile, the men’s team had to dig deep but eventually came up with a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan to maintain their perfect run so far in Group 2. They take on France on Tuesday.

Sreeja Akula started off well for the Indians with a 11-6, 11-4, 11-1 win over Hana Goda.

Manika Batra then had to work hard to make it 2-0, after coming from behind to beat Dina Meshref 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8.

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Yousra Helmy pulled one back for the Egyptians, beating Diya Chitale 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4.

Akula, who had reached the semifinal of the Commonwealth Games, then came up with an important 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 win over Meshref to secure the tie, and a spot in the Round of 16 for the team.

In the men’s event, a day after the stellar win against world No 2 Germany, the Indians started with G Sathiyan beating Denis Zholudev 3-0 (11-1, 11-9, 11-5). Kazakhstan’s world No 28 Kirill Gerassimenko – the highest ranked player in the tie – then came up with with a 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 win over Harmeet Desai to level the scores.

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Youngster Manav Thakkar made it 2-1 for India with a 12-10, 11-1, 11-8 win over Alan Kurmangaliyev, only for Gerassimenko to come up with a thrilling 3-2 win (6-11, 11-5, 12-14, 11-9, 11-6) over Sathiyan to take the tie into the decider.

Desai though held his own to beat Zholudev 3-0 (12-10, 11-9, 11-6) to secure the win for India.

With the win, Indian men are currently at the top of Group 2 having won each of the three matches played.

Women's group
Men's group

The format of the contest is such that teams are placed in seven (men’s event) and six (women’s event) groups, with the top two teams automatically making it to the Round of 16. The remaining numbers in the knockouts are made up by the highest ranked third-placed teams.