London, 06 May (H.S.):

India's men's team campaign in the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championship Finals came to an end in the pre-quarterfinal stage (Round of 32). Austria defeated India 3-0 in Tuesday's match, eliminating them from the tournament.

In this 1 hour 34 minute encounter, Manush Shah put up a fighting performance for India, while Manav Thakkar and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost their respective matches comfortably.

Manush Shah opened the tie against Robert Gardos. He won the first game 11-6 but lost the next two 7-11 and 3-11. Making a comeback with an 11-8 win in the fourth game, he pushed the match to a decider, where he suffered a hard-fought 11-13 defeat. This match lasted 46 minutes.

India trailed 0-1, and disappointment continued in the next two matches. Daniel Habesohn defeated Manav Thakkar 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in just 10 minutes. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran offered some resistance but ultimately lost to Andreas Levenko 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.

With this defeat, the Indian men's team's journey in the tournament has concluded.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar