Two more medals ensured for India at Asian Table Tennis Championships

Both men's doubles pairs advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Two Indian pairs reached the semi-finals of the Asian Table Tennis Championships to continue the nation's fine run in the ongoing competition. Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated Singapore's Chew Zhe Yu Clarence and Beh Kun Ting in straight games. An 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 victory booked their place in the last four. Their opponents in the semis will be Japan's Yukiya Uda and Shunsuke Togami.

The joy was doubled when Harmeet Desai and Manav Vikash Thakkar followed in their footsteps. The Indians overcame Iranian duo Noshad Alamiyan and Nima Alamian 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 in the quarters. They will next face Jang Woo-jin and Lim Jong-hoon of South Korea in the semi-finals.

Thus, two more medals were assured for India at the Asian Table Tennis Championships. Infact, the possibility of a stunning all-Indian continental final is still alive.

However, Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee failed to win their women's doubles quarterfinal. They went down 4-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11 against Miyu Nagasaki and Minami Ando of Japan.

Sharath Kamal reaches singles quarterfinal

Sharath Kamal reached the men's singles quarterfinal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships with a 3-0 victory at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

The 39-year-old got the better of Qatar's Mohammed Abdulwahhab in his Round of 16 match-up. The Indian paddler started strongly in the first game, winning it comfortably. He then continued the momentum in the following two games to finish the contest off in 25 minutes. A dominant 11-8, 12-10, 11-6 win means he continues his brilliant run in the tournament. Sharath Kamal will next face the challenge of Lee Sang-su of South Korea in the quarters.

On the other hand, another Indian star Sathiyan Gnanasekaran didn't have the best of outings on Sunday. Up against Kazuhiro Yoshimura of Japan, Sathiyan could never settle into the contest. Kazuhiro is the younger brother of Rio 2016 silver medalist Maharu Yoshimura. Sathiyan started the match on the back foot, but responded well in the second game. However, he couldn't continue the momentum going on to lose the contest 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 9-11. The match lasted for 32 minutes. It was a mixed day for the 28-year-old, as he reached the men's doubles semis, but couldn't repeat the trick in the singles at the Asian Table Tennis Championships.

Indian women disappoint

Elsewhere, none of the Indian women paddlers were able to secure their passage into the Round of 16 in the women's singles category. Ayhika Mukherjee was the first one to bite the dust. She suffered defeat at the hands of Japanese Saki Shibata in straight games. Eventually, the scoreline read 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 in favour of Shibata.

Ayhika's compatriot Sreeja Akula also faced the same fate. Sreeja took on Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong in the Round of 32. An 8-11, 10-12, 4-11 defeat ended her Asian Table Tennis Championships campaign. Archana Girish Kamath was another Indian woman paddler who exited at the Round of 32 stage. She also lost in straight games 3-11, 12-14, 8-11 to South Korea's Shin Yu-bin.

In the absence of Manika Batra, hopes were on Sutirtha Mukherjee to deliver. However, she had a tough challenge against Japan's Minami Ando. The 25-year-old Indian started strongly by winning the first game, but Ando came roaring back to clinch three consecutive games. Thus, Sutirtha lost out 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 7-11.

A couple of young Indian men also failed to progress beyond the Round of 32. Sanil Shetty and Manav Vikash Thakkar were knocked out of the Asian Table Tennis Championships. Sanil fought valiantly, only to lose after almost 49 minutes in five games to Shunsuke Togami of Japan. A 7-11, 11-9, 13-11, 9-11, 9-11 defeat brought down the curtains on his campaign. Manav, on the other hand, lost to Kazakh paddler Kirill Gerassimenko. A 10-12, 5-11, 11-8, 11-13 defeat ended Manav's hopes.

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