The Indian men’s table tennis team bowed out of the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou. The team suffered a loss to South Korea in the quarterfinal on Sunday.
India were completely outplayed by the Koreans as they sealed a comfortable 3-0 win. Following the loss, India’s campaign in the team events of the sport has come to an end.
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Experienced Sharath, Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai suffered losses
In the first match of the tie, Harmeet Desai took on Jaehyun An. Desai lost the match by 9-11, 8-11, 9-11. It gave South Korea a 1-0 lead in the game. In the next match, Sathiyan Gnanaskeran took on Ganghyeon Park.
Sathiyan put on a fighting effort, but lost the match by 2-3 (12-10, 12-5, 7-11, 8-11, 6-11). Sathiyan picked up victories in the first two games but lost the next three. South Korea led by 2-0.
In the final match of the tie, veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal took on Junsung Oh. But this match also, India lost by 2-3 (11-2, 9-11, 1-11, 11-2, 10-12). Hence, South Korea progressed to the semis by beating India by 3-0.
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India beat Kazakhstan in Round of 16
Earlier, Indian men’s table tennis team sealed their place in the quarterfinals of the team event after clinching victory in a nail-biting contest against Kazakhstan. 41-year-old paddler Sharath Kamal stole the show by stepping up when the game was slipping away from the hands of the Indian team.
Sharath Kamal lost the opener by 1-3 (8-11, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11) to Kirill Gerassimenko. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran with his sheer grit and determination brought India back by clinching a 3-0 victory in the second match (14-12, 11-8, 11-4) against Aidos Kenzhigulov.
Harmeet Desai came into the action to take on Alan Kurmangaliyev in the third singles and he didn’t disappoint. Desai defeated Alan Kurmangaliyev by 3-0 (11-7, 12-10, 11-5) which momentarily gave India a 2-1 lead in the round of 16 tie.
Sathiyan came back and had a chance to finish the tie here itself as he levelled the score with two games all against Gerassimenko after winning the fourth by 11-5.
However, Gerassimenko bounced back to claim the decider by 11-5 and take away the fourth match. The tie went to the decider between Sharath Kamal and Aidos Kenzhigulov.
Sharath Kamal’s fightback
The veteran paddler lost the opening game 5-11 to Kenzhigulov and conceded another defeat in the second game 7-11. India was on the brink of crashing out of the event after losing the first two games, but he pulled out a rabbit from the hat by winning the third 9-11. He went on to make it 2-2 in the deciding singles after clinching the fourth game by 11-8.
Sharath managed to move ahead and lead the opposition paddler by 6-5. Kenzhigulov didn’t allow him to build on that lead as he levelled the score at 6-6 and then 7-7.
Sharath with all his experience completed an incredible turnaround and took away the fifth game and the entire match.
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