Emmanuel Lebesson played a key role in France's 3-2 win against Sweden at the ITTF World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur ©ITTF/Rémy Gros

France’s men assured top spot in Group B at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Team Championships at the Stadium Malawati Shah Alamin in Kuala Lumpur after beating Sweden 3-2 today.

Emmanuel Lebesson was the hero of the hour, picking up five-game wins against Anton Källberg - 9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 12-10 - and Mattias Karlsson - 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6 - in deciding match.

"I was trying not to think that if I won it was first place in the group," said the Frenchman.

"I just tried to focus on the match itself."

Simon Gauzy, a leading figure in France’s 3-1 success against Germany yesterday, lost narrowly to Karlsson 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9.

He recovered, however, to beat Källberg 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

Jon Persson emerged as the other Swedish winner in the third match of the fixture, beating Tristan Flore 11-5, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4.

France’s concluding contest sees them go up against Denmark, who beat Malaysia 3-1 to secure their first win of the event.

Today’s other Group B encounter pitted number 18 seeds England against second seeds Germany, the former causing a major upset by coming out 3-1 winners.

Russia beat Hong Kong 3-2 in Group D of the men's competition
Russia beat Hong Kong 3-2 in Group D of the men's competition ©ITTF/Facebook

After four matches, Germany and England both have six points, while Sweden have seven and France have eight.

Germany are due to play Sweden and England meet Malaysia in the final round of group matches as the fight for a top three finish and place in the main draw reaches its climax tomorrow.

In Group D, number six seeds Russia registered a surprise 3-2 win over number 11 seeds Hong Kong to keep their qualification hopes alive.

South Korea maintained their perfect record with a 3-2 win against Romania and Croatia eased to a 3-0 victory against Italy.

In the women’s competition, eyes were very much focused on Group C which featured an intriguing battle between two teams battling for third spot - Ukraine and Belarus.

Ukraine triumphed 3-1 to move onto six points, one ahead of their opponents.

Two ahead of them are leaders Singapore, who beat Poland 3-1.

The Netherlands are second with seven points after suffering their first defeat, 3-2 at the hands of France.

As for Group D, Hong Kong beat the United States 3-0, South Korea recorded a 3-1 win against Austria, and Russia overcame Sweden in a five-game duel.