Yuan Ji Nan steered France to victory against Portugal (Photo: Rémy Gros)
France will take on Korea in the women’s qualification for the final place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic.
With eight team already booking their places for Tokyo, the losers of the Last 16 , matches were locked in a do-or-die battle for the last available slot for the Olympics.
Austria, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China and Romania, DPR Korea, Hungary, Poland and Singapore had qualified for the Olympic Games earlier on Friday and Saturday.
France started off the day with a hard-earned 3-2 win over India in the ITTF World Team Qualification in Gondomar, Portugal.
Marie Migot was the star for the French as she accounted for both Manika Batra 11-7, 3-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7 and, in the deciding fifth match, Ayhika Mukherjee 6-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9.
In their second match, the French defeated Portugal 3-1 to earn the place against a strong Korean side. Yuan Ji Nan was the key for France in this tie as she picked up wins over Shao Jieni 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7 and followed it up with a 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 victory over Luo Xue.
Korea, who were surprisingly beaten by North Korea in their qualification matches earlier in the week, defeated ninth seeds Ukraine 3-1 in their first match. The fourth seeds followed it up with a 3-0 whitewash in their second playoff match.
The Czech Republic and Hungary caused the biggest upset in the men’s playoffs.
The Czechs paid put to Indian hopes with a 3-1 win over India while fourth seeds Great Britain ended their campaign in dismal fashion, losing 1-3 to Hungary.
Like the women, only one spot is available for the men as they chase their place in Tokyo 2020. In crucial second stage matches today Czech Republic will play Hungary while Slovakia takes on Hong Kong. The winners of the two matches will play each other for the remaining slot.
Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Sweden, France and Portugal have all already secured their places from the tournament.
RESULTS
MEN
QUARTER-FINALS: Czech Republic bt India 3-1; Hungary bt Great Britain 3-1; Slovakia bt Belgium 3-0; Hong Kong bt Poland 3-1
WOMEN
QUARTER-FINALS: Portugal bt Netherlands 3-2; Spain bt Belarus 3-2; South Korea bt Ukraine 3-1; France bt India 3-2
SEMI-FINALS: France bt Portugal 3-1; Korea bt Spain 3-0
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