NEW DELHI: The Indian men's table tennis team missed out on a bronze medal opportunity as they were defeated 3-0 by a second-string South Korean team in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday.
The series of losses began with Harmeet Desai losing the first match 0-3 to An Jaehyun. Despite G Sathiyan's efforts to put up a fight, he couldn't overcome Park Ganghyeon, leading to India trailing 0-2 after the first two ties.
The hopes of a comeback rested on Achantha Sharath Kamal, but unfortunately, he went down 2-3 to Oh Junsung. What made the defeat even more disappointing was that South Korea's top three players didn't even participate in the match.
Earlier in the day, Sharath Kamal played a crucial role in helping India escape a potential upset against Kazakhstan. The match was tied at 2-2 when Sharath Kamal secured a crucial win in the decisive fifth rubber.
However, the Indian women's table tennis team faced a different fate as they were eliminated from the Games. Star Indian paddler Manika Batra struggled in both her singles matches, resulting in a 2-3 loss to a resilient Thailand.
The match against Kazakhstan was closely contested, and Sharath Kamal's victory in the decisive fifth rubber saved India from a potential upset. Sharath had lost the opening singles match but made a comeback with a strong performance.
Sathiyan and Harmeet also contributed with victories, but Sathiyan faced resistance from Krill in their reverse singles, ultimately losing the match.
For the women's team, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee secured crucial wins, but Ayhika couldn't consolidate the lead in her second singles match.
The focus then shifted to Manika Batra in the decisive last rubber, but she struggled in the first game and ultimately lost, leading to Thailand advancing to the quarterfinals.
Thailand would go on to face North Korea in the next round for a place in the semifinals.
(With PTI inputs)
