Asian Games table tennis: India’s medal wait continues after men and women crash

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 lost 0-3 to North Korea in the quarter-finals as Sreeja Akula, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale were beaten in straight games.

Sreeja was the first Indian player in action against Kum Yong Kim. After playing 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 up next against Song Gyong Pyon, with India needing a win to level the tie. However, the Indian could not find a way past her opponent and lost 4-11, 3-11, 6-11.

Diya then had to win against Su Yong Cha to extend the contest. She fought back but eventually lost 9-11, 7-11, 8-11 to complete a 3-0 win for North Korea. India reached the last eight after beating Thailand 3-2. They were trailing 1-2 before Yashaswini made it two wins to turn the tie around.

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

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

INDIAN MEN BOW TOO

The Indian men’s team also saw their campaign end after a 1-3 defeat in the opening singles and further losses to Korea. Harmeet Desai started strongly against Jang Woo-jin, winning the first game 11-8. Jang responded by winning the next three to complete the 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 regain control of the contest. Oh, but he held his nerve in a close finish. Manush won the fourth game 13-11 to force a decision, but the Korean closed out the game 11-6 to win 3-2.

India therefore needed a win from Manav Thakkar to stay in contention. Manav lost the opening game 10-12 against An Jaeh-yun and slumped further after losing the second 6-11. He pulled one back in the third to win 11-7, but An held on in the fourth to win 12-10 and seal India’s exit.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

22 Sep 2026 18:28 IST