India Faces Setbacks in Table Tennis at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

Disappointing Results for Indian Table Tennis Teams

Aichi-Nagoya, Japan - On September 25, India's table tennis doubles teams encountered significant challenges at the Asian Games, with Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade, as well as Sreeja Akula and Syndrela Das all bowing out in the third round.

In the men's doubles, Harmeet and Sathiyan faced a tough match against Japan's Sora Matsushima and Shunsuke Togami, losing 0-3, which marked the end of their journey in the tournament, as reported by ESPN.

Previously, the Indian pair had managed to overcome Indonesia's Affan Pratama and Muhammad Negara with a close 3-2 victory in the second round, winning the first two games 11-4 and 11-7, before the Indonesians fought back to equalize. The decisive game saw the Indians clinch it 11-6.

Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah also exited the men's doubles after a 1-3 defeat to Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Hiroto Shinozuka.

In the women's doubles, Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade lost 0-3 to China's Fan Shuhan and Chen Yi, while Sreeja Akula and Syndrela Das were defeated 0-3 by China's Kuai Man and Wang Manyu.

Earlier, Manush advanced in the men's singles by defeating Iran's Benyamin Faraji with a score of 3-0, winning the games 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, and 11-5 to reach the third round.

Yashaswini also moved forward in the women's singles after overcoming Syria's Hend Zaza in the second round, although Sreeja Akula and Manav Thakkar faced losses in their respective singles matches.

India's performance was mixed across other sports on Day 6.

The mixed doubles team of Diya Chitale and Manush Shah secured a medal in table tennis by defeating Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in the quarter-finals.

In squash, Joshana Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar guaranteed a medal for India by winning against the Philippines' David Pelino and Jemcya Aribado in the mixed doubles quarter-finals.

Both the men's and women's kabaddi teams advanced to the finals, with the women defeating Nepal and the men overcoming Thailand.

In hockey, the Indian women's team triumphed over Japan with a score of 3-1 in their Pool B match.

India also celebrated a gold medal in shooting, with Kamaljeet and Suruchi Inder Singh winning the 10m air pistol mixed team final. Additionally, APS Tomar, Rudrankksh Patil, and Niraj Kumar secured silver in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions team event.

In badminton, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto progressed in mixed doubles, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were eliminated in their men's doubles opener by Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun.

In squash singles, Abhay Singh advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Japan's Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-0, while Anahat Singh also moved forward to the women's singles semi-finals after beating her compatriot Tanvi Khanna.