The Indian men’s Table Tennis team finishes with a historic bronze after losing 0-3 against South Korea in a one-sided semi-final contest at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on Tuesday.
After a spirited performance in the quarter-finals against Japan, the men’s team failed to cross the might of Korea, who with the victory sealed a summit clash against the defending champions China in what would be a repeat final of the 2014 edition.
G Sathiyan began the contest for India facing Lee Sangsu in the opening game. The 39th ranked paddler began well even winning the first set but eventually went down 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 3-11 to give a 1-0 lead.
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Veteran Achanta Sharat Kamal then faced Sik Jeoung in the second match. Facing a younger opponent the 33rd ranked experienced Indian was expected to win and he did put up a fight but failed to overcome the challenge.
Sharat, who for the last couple of years has been India’s highest ranked paddler went down in a five-set contest 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 8-11 to leave India needing a victory in the final match to have any hopes of surviving.
Anthony Amalraj then lost the deciding encounter 5-11, 7-11, 11-4, 7-11 against the 22-year-old Woojin Jang to settle for the bronze.
The bronze is India its first ever medal in the history of the sport at the intercontinental event. The 3-1 victory over Japan had ensured the nation a maiden T-T medal ever since the game was introduced at the intercontinental event in 1958.
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“It is an Asian Games medal. I had never dreamt of it,” Achanta Sharat was quoted as saying by PTI following their victory over the Japanese.
Earlier, the Indian women’s team had gone down 1-3 in the quarter-finals against Hong Kong to knock themselves out of the tournament. Manika Batra was the sole Indian female paddler to win.