Paris (France): India’s campaign in the men’s table tennis came to an end on second day of the Paris 2024 Olympics as Harmeet Desai suffered a loss. He lost to Felix Lebrun of the host country by 0-4 in the Round of 32. Thus, India’s hopes to win a medal in the men’s table tennis are dashed.
Harmeet was struggling against the World No.5 paddler right from the start and failed to pocket any set. He lost the opening set of the fixture by 8-11. In the second set, he started well but lost the rhythm again losing set by the same scoreline. After losing the first two sets, Indian fans were hoping for a comeback of the Indian paddler but he failed to match up to the prowess shown by his opponent.
He lost the next two games by 7-11 and 8-11 which resulted in a devastating loss. Lebrun wrapped the match in a span of 28 minutes. Earlier in the day, Achantha Sharath Kamal also lost his singles match by 4-2.
Harmeet defeated Jordan’s Abo Yaman Zaid by 4-0 in the first round on Saturday. The Indian paddler, who has won gold medals in the team event in 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. The 31-year-old appeared in his maiden Olympics this time around but his campaign folded early in the competition.
India will compete in the team event of the table tennis for the first time in the Olympic history and their campaign in the men's team event and women's team event will kick off from 5 and 6 August respectively.
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