Asian Games table tennis: India's medal wait continues after men, women crash out

India's table tennis campaign at the Asian Games ended without a team medal on Tuesday as the men's and women's teams suffered defeats in the knockout stages. The women were beaten 0-3 by North Korea in the quarterfinals, while the men's team also bowed out after losing to Korea.

In Short

• North Korea swept India's women 3-0 in the quarter-finals
• Sreeja, Yashaswini and Diya lost their matches in straight games
• India's men's team crashed out after suffering a 1-3 defeat

India's table tennis campaign at the Asian Games ended without a medal from the team events on Tuesday, with both the men's and women's sides bowing out. The women's team went down 0-3 to North Korea in the quarterfinals, as Sreeja Akula, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale were all beaten in straight games.

Sreeja was the first Indian player in action against Kum Yong Kim. Having played a key role in India's 3-2 win over Thailand earlier in the day, she struggled to reproduce that form and lost 7-11, 6-11, 5-11. Yashaswini was next up against Song Gyong Pyon, with India needing a win to level the tie. But the Indian was unable to find a way past her opponent, losing 4-11, 3-11, 6-11.

Diya then had to win against Su Yong Cha to extend the contest. She made a fight of it but eventually went down 9-11, 7-11, 8-11, completing a 3-0 win for North Korea. India had reached the last eight after edging past Thailand 3-2. They had trailed 1-2 before Yashaswini produced two victories to turn the tie around.

Sreeja completed the comeback with a 3-1 win over Olympian and Asian Games medallist Suthasini Sawettabut. She prevailed 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 to book India's place in the quarterfinals. The result means India will have to wait for their first Asian Games medal on the women's team event.

India have won three table tennis medals at the Asian Games, all bronze. The men's team claimed the country's first medal in the sport at Jakarta 2018. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra then won bronze in mixed doubles. At Hangzhou 2023, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee secured bronze in women's doubles, India's first Asian Games medal in the event.

INDIA MEN ALSO BOW OUT

India's men's team also saw its campaign come to an end after a 1-3 defeat in the opening singles match and further losses to Korea. Harmeet Desai started strongly against Jang Woo-jin, taking the first game 11-8. Jang responded by winning the next three, completing a 3-1 victory with scores of 11-7, 11-8 and 11-9.

Manush Shah then faced Oh Jungsung and found himself in trouble after losing the opening game 4-11. He responded by taking the next two games and appeared to have regained control of the contest. Oh, however, held his nerve in a tight finish. Manush won the fourth game 13-11 to force a decider, but the Korean closed out the match 11-6 to win 3-2.

That left India needing a win from Manav Thakkar to stay in contention. Manav lost the opening game 10-12 against An Jaeh-yun and fell further behind after dropping the second 6-11. He pulled one back with an 11-7 win in the third, but An held on in the fourth to prevail 12-10 and seal India's exit.

- Ends