File image of Achanta Sharath Kamal.© SAI
Indian men’s team bowed out in the semifinals and settled for the bronze medal following a 0-3 loss to Chinese Taipei in the semifinal of the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Kazakhstan’s Astana, on Thursday. Indian women’s team had also won the bronze medal in the competition on Wednesday, which is the country’s first medal in the category since the beginning of the event in 1972. The legendary Achanta Sharath Kamal, world No 42, found the going tough against his world No 7 opponent Lin Yun-Ju, whose reflexes and precision made the contest tougher for the Indian to settle into his own game.
Sharath Kamal lost the contest 11-7, 12-10, 11-9.
In the following contest, Manav Thakkar lost to world No 22 Kao Cheng-Jui in a hard-fought contest whose outcome was 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 13-11 in the favour of the Chinese Taipei’s player and a 2-0 lead.
In the third game, Harmeet Desai also had to deal with disappointment as the Indian paddler lost to Huang Yan-Cheng 6-11, 9-11, 7-11.
“Despite the loss, the Indian men’s team has much to be proud of. A bronze medal at the prestigious Asian Championships is no small feat, especially in the elite continental championships,” said the Table Tennis Federation of India in a release.
“The men’s and women’s squads showed incredible grit and determination, proving that India continues to rise in the ranks of international table tennis,” it added.
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