Indian paddlers made history twice in less than 24 hours with both women’s and men’s teams emerging triumphant in the second division of their respective sections at the 2016 World Table Tennis Championships. The Indian women’s team beat Luxemburg 3-1 in the second division final before their male counterparts overcame a stiff competition from Brazil 3-2.

The men however, started with with a loss to Nigeria in their opening group match, but won all their games tthereafter to achieve top honours.

With the Indian men achieving two hard-fought wins on their way to the final, the team management decided to rest veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal for the title decider against Brazil. But it seemed to be a wrong decision with India trailing 1-2 despite Harmeet Desai pulling one back after Soumyajit Ghosh lost the opening rubber.

Worse was to come when Anthony Amalraj, who was leading the third rubber 2-1 at one stage, went down to Thiago Monterio, putting India in a precarious position. However, Ghosh made amends with a fantastic 3-0 win over Cazuo Matsumoto to keep Indian hopes alive. Harmeet then won a tense decider 15-13.

Did You Know?

• Table tennis became a medal Olympic sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul
• Table tennis is the most popular racquet sport in the world and ranked second overall in terms of participation. Over 10 million players compete in sanctioned tournaments each year.
• How many balls can two players hit back and forth in 60 seconds? The current record is 173 set by Jackie Bellinger and Lisa Lomas in 1993.