India men and women’s table tennis teams got off to a strong start as they remained unbeaten on the opening day of the competition at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China on Friday, September 22.
India men, led by veteran Achantha Sharath Kamal, defeated Yemen 3-0, and then defeated Singapore 3-1 in their group-stage matches. India women also beat Singapore in a thriller on the first day of table tennis competitions.
Asian Games 2023: Full Coverage
India men are on top of Group F points table and then will next face Tajikistan on September 23. India women will next face Nepal in their final group-stage match. Notably, Singapore had blanked Nepal 3-0 in their group-stage meeting. Indian women are favourites to top the group.
The men’s team came up with a dominant win over Yemen with Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai winning their singles matches. In their second tie of the day against Singapore, Sathiyan beat Izaac Young Quek 5-11 12-10 11-6 11-9, while Harmeet had to dig deep to get past Yew En Koen Pang 12-10 11-8 6-11 6-11 11-5. Sharath, however, lost to Zhe Yu Clarence Chew 11-13 8-11 12-10 5-11 to hand Singapore some breathing space. But Sathiyan ensured India continued their winning streak, beating Pang 11-7 10-12 11-9 11-6.
INDIA 3-2 SINGAPORE IN THRILLER
The women’s team, led by star shuttler Manika Batra, had to work hard for their win against Singapore. It was not a perfect start for the Indian women as Ayhika Mukherjee lost 11-7 2-11 7-11 10-12 to Jian Zeng. But Manika Batra drew the scores level for India, defeating Jingyi Zhou 11-9 9-11 11-7 11-3 and then Sreeja Akula gave India the lead with a fighting 12-14 11-9 8-11 11-9 11-7 win over Xin Ru Wong.
Singapore took the tie into the decider when Batra lost 3-11 11-3 10-12 12-10 10-12 to Zeng. But Mukherjee ensured a positive start for the Indian women by a registering 11-7 11-8 9-11 11-5 over Zhou. (With PTI Inputs)
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