India’s sensational run in the table tennis event at the 18th Asian Games came to an end after Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra lost in the pre-quarterfinals of the singles competition here on Friday.
World No. 33 Sharath Kamal went down fighting against 14th ranked Chih-Yuan Chunag of Chinese Taipei 7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 16-14, 9-11.
Sathiyan, who led India to a maiden medal in 60 years with his two wins against Japan in the team event, was not to able to do an encore against Kenta Matsudaira.
The World No. 39 had beaten the 19th ranked Japanese in the team semifinals but today was not his day.
He lost 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 6-11, 10-12 in another round of 16 match.
Rising star Manika Batra won a game against World No. 5 Wang Manyu but it was not enough as she lost 2-11, 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 4-11 to the Chinese in the women’s singles round of 16.
The table tennis players’ performance is among the highlights of India’s campaign at the 18th Asian Games.
Even the players did not think that they would end winning two bronze medals from the continental event. Along with the men’s team bronze, Kamal and Batra combined to secure a bronze in mixed doubles.
