Manika Batra won both her singles matches as the Indian women's team edged out Hungary 3-2 for its first win of the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan on Sunday. (More Table Tennis News)
However, the Indian men's team suffered a 1-3 loss to Poland in its second group game.
It was a fine comeback from Manika who had lost both her singles against China on Friday when India stood on the cusp of a mega upset before falling short 2-3.
Manika, who is India's top-ranked player at 36, had to dig deep against Dora Madaras in the opening singles before pulling off an 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4 win on Sunday.
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Georgina Pota then levelled the tie with a 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8 result over Sreeja Akula in the second singles. Sreeja had stunned world number 2 Wang Yidi in the tournament opener.
Ayhika Mukherkjee, the conqueror of world number one Sun Yinghsa on Friday, put India 2-1 up with a 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 win over Bernadett Balint.
The contest was stretched into the decider when Madaras got past Sreeja 11-4, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7 in the fourth singles.
Manika kept her composure in the all-important decider against Pota to complete an 11-5, 14-12, 13-11 win. India will play Spain and Uzbekistan in the remaining group games. With three wins in as many games, China are expected to top the group.
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In the men's tie, Harmeet Desai was the only one to put it past Poland as he defeated Macie Kubik 12-10, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5 in the second singles.
Sharath Kamal and Manav Thakkar lost their respective singles. Harmeet returned to play the fourth singles but couldn't get the job done against Jakub Dyjas 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 12-14.
