Asian Table Tennis Championship: Indian men lose to Korea, finish with bronze

The Indian men’s table tennis team won a historic bronze medal although they lost to Korea 0-3 in the semi-finals of the Asian Table Tennis Championship at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha on Friday (October 1).

The Indian men’s table tennis team scripted history on Wednesday when they beat the Islamic Republic of Iran in the quarter-finals to assure themselves of a bronze medal – the first in the history of the country in the Asian Table Tennis Championship.

With a medal in their pockets and morale up, the Indian paddlers took on the Koreans head-on. But the rampaging South Koreans, also the top seeds, were the better side in one-on-one combat.

Starting the match for India, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran found himself pushed into the corner straightaway. South Korea's World No. 12 Woojin Jang brought his backhand game into focus and attacked throughout, often catching the world No. 38 Indian on the wrong foot.

The Korean eventually won 11-5, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5 to provide his country with the lead.

Sathiyan was in a good position in his second game but allowed the Korean deuce before winning it on extended points.

Read: Table tennis WTT Youth Contender: Anargya Manjunath wins U-17 title

In contrast, Sharath Kamal began well only to squander the 2-1 advantage. He allowed World No. 22 Lee Sangsu to stage a comeback, especially in the last two games, and post a 7-11, 15-13, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 triumph.

Sharath will have to blame himself for letting the South Korean off the hook after the World No. 33 Indian did well to take a handy lead in all games, except the fourth. Yet Sharath failed to capitalize on them. Some service errors and a few passive shots only compounded the issue further in a match that lasted 50 minutes.

Though Harmeet Desai did not begin well against Seungmin Cho, he brought back momentum to his game to lead 2-1. But the World No. 77, five places behind Harmeet, made the most of the chances to win some crucial points to level 2-2.

In the decider, none had any noticeable big-lead gain, both winning their service points. At 10-8, Harmeet could not force his opponent into mistakes, allowing Cho to deuce.

With service on, the Indian led 11-10, but that was all he could do as the Korean sealed Korea’s place in the final with three straight points, including a breakpoint.

Cho won 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11 in 43 minutes.

Indian Women table tennis team finish fifth

File photo of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

The Indian women's table tennis team showed courage and commitment in positions playoff to finish fifth, after beating Thailand 3-1. The mainstay of India’s win was Sutirtha Mukherjee.

Archana Kamath played the opener against top-ranked Suthsani Sawettabut. The Thai, who is ranked No. 38 in the world, showed good form initially. But Archana quickly caught up \with her to level the score at 2-2, as the Indian picked up four consecutive points to win. However, the experienced Thai prevailed 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9 in the decider.

Teenager Phantita Pinyopisan was no match for Indian table tennis player Sutirtha Mukherjee, ranked 97 in the world. The Indian disposed of her in 18 minutes to win the contest 11-5, 11-5, 11-6.

The onus was on Sreeja Akula, the Indian table tennis player posted an 11-7, 11-6, 11-2 win over another youngster, Wirakarn Tayapitak.

Sutirtha, returning for her reverse singles, tamed the fighting Sawettabut 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7.