Asian Games, table tennis: Indian women stun Singapore 3-2, men lose 0-3 to Iran

The Indian women’s table tennis team staged a brilliant comeback to stun Singapore 3-2 in their Group F match at the Asian Games on Sunday, while the men’s team suffered a 0-3 defeat against Iran in their other Group F encounter.

India were staring at defeat after going down 1-2 but Sreeja Akula and Yashaswini Ghorpade won their matches to seal the tie.

Ghorpade gave India a winning start as he defeated Jian Zeng 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9. However, Sreeja suffered an 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 6-11 defeat to Loy Ming in the second match.

ASIAN GAMES 2026 UPDATE 20 SEPTEMBER

Diya Chitale then lost 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 5-11 to Tan Zhao as Singapore advanced 2-1.

With India needing to win both their remaining matches, Sreeja came back to beat Jian Zeng 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4 to level the score at 2-2.

Ghorpade then held her nerve in the decider to beat Loy Ming 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9 to complete India’s comeback.

However, the men’s team suffered a disappointing defeat against Iran. Manush Shah lost 3-11, 8-11, 10-12 to Noshad Alamiyan in the opening match, while Manav Thakkar lost to Benyamin Faraji 2-11, 6-11, 6-11.

Harmeet Desai put up a stronger fight in the third match but eventually lost 10-12, 15-13, 3-11, 12-10, 2-11 to Alamiyan as Iran completed a 3-0 victory.

Both the Indian teams will face Pakistan next Monday.

India’s men’s and women’s teams earlier opened their campaigns with identical 3-0 wins over Indonesia.

The women’s team started with Sreeja defeating Ni Maharani 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4. Diya then defeated Almaira Nebuchadnezzar 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 before Ghorpade sealed the tie with a 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 win over Citra Rasmi.

The men’s team also secured a 3-0 win as Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Muhammad Negara 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.

Manav Thakkar then outclassed Muhammad Junindra 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in a five-game contest before Manush Shah completed the sweep with an 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 win over Affan Pratama.

The Indian women’s team are grouped alongside Indonesia, Pakistan and Singapore in Group F, while the men’s team are clubbed with Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

20 Sep 2026 18:03 IST