Malaysia’s Wong Qi Shin points to the heaven after converting his fourth match point against India’s Manav Thakkar to seal his team’s win.
| Photo Credit: Amol Karhadkar
Top seed India suffered a shock defeat to underdog Malaysia in its opening league match of the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagraj Stadium on Monday, serving up an early reminder of the challenges that lie ahead this week and at the Asian Games in Japan in September.
Earlier in the day, India had thrashed Zimbabwe 3-0.
On paper, the India-Malaysia contest appeared one-sided. Four Indian paddlers are ranked inside the world’s top 100, while Malaysia’s highest-ranked player, Wong Qi Shen, is only World No. 202. But rankings counted for little as Wong produced a captain’s performance, defeating both Harmeet Desai and World No. 38 Manav Thakkar to script one of Malaysia’s memorable victories over India.
Manav had given India the ideal start with a comfortable win over Choong Javen, but Harmeet, returning to international action after skipping Ultimate Table Tennis, was unable to match Wong’s relentless consistency. The momentum swung further Malaysia’s way when Tey Hong Yu edged Manush Shah in a gripping five-game contest, less than 24 hours after the Indian had guided U Mumba TT to the Ultimate Table Tennis title in Goa.
With India trailing, Manav needed to overcome Wong to force the tie into a decider. The Indian fought valiantly, saving three match points after falling 6-10 behind in the fifth game, before Wong sealed the contest with a crisp backhand winner down the line.
The defeat is unlikely to derail India’s campaign, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the quarterfinals.
“Malaysia played out of their skins and we were slightly off the mark. Perhaps you can call it a wake-up call, but I don’t think we have too much to worry about. It was just an off-day for all three of our players,” India coach Sourav Chakraborty told The Hindu.
Important results: Men: Malaysia bt India 3-1 (Choong Javen lost to Manav Thakkar 3-11, 3-11, 4-11, Wong Qi Shen bt Harmeet Desai 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7, Tey Hong Yu bt Manush Shah 11-13, 5-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7, Wong bt Manav 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 11-9), India bt Zimbabwe 3-0 (Manav Thakkar bt Taenda Mumvuma 11-3, 11-2, 11-6, Harmeet Desai bt Tapiwa Musarurwa 11-5, 11-4, 11-5, Payas Jain bt Vikram Singh 11-3, 11-3, 11-8), Malaysia bt Wales 3-0, England bt Cyprus 3-0, New Zealand bt Falkland Island 3-0, Canada bt Scotland 3-0, Singapore bt Northern Ireland 3-0.
Women: Singapore bt Sri Lanka 3-2, India bt Maldives 3-0 (Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Fathimath Dheema Ali 11-4, 11-2, 11-5, Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Aishath Rafa Nazim 11-2, 11-5, 11-7, Swastika Ghosh bt Mishka Mohamed Ibrahim 11-3, 11-5, 11-2), Northern Ireland bt South Africa 3-2, Australia bt Bangladesh 3-0, England bt Cyprus 3-0, Malaysia bt Scotland 3-0.
Published – July 27, 2026 10:24 pm IST
