Asian Table Tennis Championship: Indian men's team create history, assures first-ever medal
The Indian men's table tennis team assured themselves of a bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha on Wednesday. They beat Iran 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
The medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships will be etched in history as it will be India's first-ever medal in the prestigious championship. The Indian men's table tennis team made it to the Championship division from the First Division after a stellar showing in the championship last year.
The Indian men's table tennis team made the most of China's absence from the championship and managed to get a direct entry into the eight-team main draw.
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The Indian men's table tennis team, led by veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, started on a stellar note as they managed to put it past Iran 3-1 in style.
Sharath, who opened the first match of the rubber, downed Nima Alamiyan 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5 to put India 1-0 up.
Though the world No. 33 began well, he dropped the next before picking up steam to roll past Alamiyan.
In the next match, India's second-best table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, ranked 38 in the world, beat Noshad Alamiyan 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6.
Indian table tennis team gets a scare
However, in the next rubber, the Indian men's table tennis team got a scare. Harmeet Desai couldn't get going and lost the match to Amir Hossein Hodaei 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11.
The fiercely-fought rubber saw fortunes fluctuating from one extreme to another but the Iranian held the whip to reduce the margin.
However, in his reverse singles, India's best table tennis player Sharath sealed the fate of Iran. He beat Noshad 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 to ensure India their first medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championship.
The Indian men's table tennis team will take on the winners of the South Korea-Hong Kong match in the semi-final on Friday.
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