Paris Olympics: Good start for paddler Harmeet Desai

Paris: In what was expected to be a comfortable encounter, India’s Harmeet Desai brushed aside Jordanian paddler Zaid Abo Yaman with a 4-0 win (11-7, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5) in the preliminary round of the men’s singles table tennis competition at the Olympic Games here on Saturday.

Desai, who was a pivotal figure in the gold-winning team competition at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, dealt with the WR 538 player, as he sealed the game in just 30 minutes.

It will be a tough next encounter for Desai as he will take on home favourite and World Ranked 5 Felix Lebrun on Sunday in the Round of 64.

There are a lot of hopes from India’s table tennis squad at the Games with this Olympics marking the first time when both the men’s and women’s teams have qualified for the team’s competitions.

Desai alongside Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar, and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will team up in the latter half of the Games after the conclusion of the individual events. (IANS)

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