The Indian men’s team on Friday began their 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win over Chile in Busan, South Korea.

Achanta Sharath Kamal got India off to the perfect start by beating Nicolas Burgos 11-5, 11-8, 11-6. Harmeet Desai doubled India’s lead with a 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 win over Gustavo Gomez before Sathiyan Gnanasekaran wrapped up the tie for India with a 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 win over Felipe Olivares.

India are in Group 3 alongside the world No 3 South Korea, Poland, Chile, and New Zealand. India will next face Poland on Sunday. They will then face hosts South Korea on Monday before ending their group stage on Tuesday against New Zealand.

Advertisement

All eight table toppers will move to the Round of 16 while the second and third placed teams in all eight groups will go up against each other for a place in the pre-quarters. The fourth and fifth placed teams will no longer be a part of the competition.

The quarter-finalists will also secure their place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.