England’s Liam Pitchford had to settle for silver as he lost to India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta in the men’s singles table tennis final at the Commonwealth Games.
Pitchford won the first set but Achanta – the bronze medallist four years ago on the Gold Coast – bounced back to seal a 4-1 victory and take gold.
The silver is Pitchford’s third medal of the Games, adding to gold in the doubles and bronze in the team event.
“It was a difficult match, honestly he (Achanta) played unbelievably well and credit to him,” Pitchford said. “I think honestly after the first set and a half I didn’t really know where to play against him.
“He was just there, he knew every ball where I was playing and he was just solid and I probably got caught up in trying to hit the ball past him and he was just waiting.
“If you told me two or three weeks ago that I’d get a silver medal in the singles I’d have bitten your hand off.
“People don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and it’s been tough and honestly I’ve been close to not even stepping out on the court anymore, so to come and get to a final…
“I just didn’t have anything left today, but I’m proud that I came out and I’ve got a silver medal away from the event.”
Wales took bronze in the women’s doubles as Charlotte Carey and Anna Hursey secured a 3-1 win over their opponents from Singapore.
Hursey said: “We could easily have lost the first two sets, but we got through it. We both played absolutely amazing. We were both nervous but we got through it in the end.
“We trained for it and we deserved to win that medal. I was so happy at the end. I was in tears, too.”
England’s Paul Drinkhall narrowly missed out on bronze after coming from three games behind before losing 4-3 to India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.
Gnanasekaran looked like he had the bronze wrapped up before Drinkhall pulled off a remarkable comeback to level, but the Indian managed to stay cool and see the deciding game out.
“It’s been really good support all the time, I think we like an underdog in England and Britain so at 3-0 that’s what I was and I almost pulled it off,” Drinkhall said.
“I think I gave it everything I had to give. I found something a little bit too late. Even in the last set I gave myself a chance but it was too late.”
