India overcome Thailand in thriller to reach Asian Games TT women’s team quarterfinals

India overcame a major scare to beat Thailand 3-2 in a dramatic women’s table tennis Round of 16 encounter at the 2026 Asian Games on Tuesday. Sreeja Akula held her nerve in the decider to send India into the quarter-finals where they will face North Korea.The tie could hardly have started worse for India. Sreeja led by two games against Orawan Paranang but couldn’t finish the job. Paranang cruised to a 7-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10 victory to put Thailand in the lead.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule|MedalsYashaswini Ghorpade restored parity with a gritty 3-2 win over Suthasini Sawettabut. After taking the opening game 11-8, Yashaswini lost the next two 5-11, 7-11. She responded strongly, making it 1-1 in the fourth and fifth games, 11-9, 11-9.Thailand moved ahead again after Diya Chitale suffered a narrow defeat to Jinnapan Sawettabut. Chitale had a match point at 10-9 in the decider but Jinnapan held their nerve to win 13-11. The Thai player won 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 13-11.With India staring at elimination at 1-2, Yashaswini produced one of the key performances of the tie. She obliterated Paranang 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 in just 21 minutes to level India and force a decider.Sreeja was then given the responsibility of closing the match against Suthasini. She lost the opening game 9-11, but immediately turned the match around and won the next two 11-6, 12-10.Suthasini led 8-6 in the fourth game but Sreeja responded with five straight points to take control. She eventually won the game 11-9 and completed a 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 victory, sparking India’s comeback win.India’s campaign also produced mixed results in several disciplines on Tuesday.In boxing, Sakshi Chaudhary advanced after defeating Aira Villegas of the Philippines in the women’s 51kg round of 32. The Indian men’s kabaddi team also registered a commanding 63-31 victory over South Korea in Group A.Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished second in the mixed team 10m shot put qualification but finished fourth in the final.In soft tennis, Jay Meena beat Pakistan’s Hussain Arain 4-0 in Group D men’s singles, while Aadhya Tiwari lost to Thailand’s Alisha Ziegler 1-4 in women’s singles.Wushu saw Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam finish ninth in the women’s Nanquan final. In the men’s individual lineups, Sachin and Hemash Singh finished fourth in their groups.In swimming, Aryan Nehra finished fourth in the men’s 1500m freestyle B final. India’s 4x100m medley relay quartet of Rishabh Das, Akash Mani, Benediction Beniston and Dhanush Suresh finished seventh overall in the heats to qualify for the final.There were also failures. Chetan Bhatt lost the men’s 84kg kumite bronze medal match while Alisha Choudhary was beaten 1-6 by Indonesia’s Cok Istri Agung Sanistyarani in the women’s 55kg round of 16.India also suffered a 0-3 defeat to Malaysia in the Team Regu men’s sepaktakraw competition. In dressage, Ashish Limaye finished 13th, Arjan Nagra 23rd and Fouaad Mirza 26th.