CWG: Indian men's table tennis team defeats Nigeria to claim gold

The Indian men's table tennis team, led by ace paddler Sharath Kamal, defeated Nigeria 3-0 to claim the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran celebrate after winning the men's table tennis gold medal on Monday.

The Indian men's table tennis team coasted to a commanding 3-0 win over Nigeria to clinch the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games here, on Monday.

The win comes a day after the Indian women's table tennis team defeated Singapore to win the gold medal on Sunday.

The Indians came into the tie riding on the momentum from a hard-fought 3-2 win over defending champion Singapore in the semifinals earlier this morning.

Ace paddler Sharath Kamal played the first tie against Bode Abiodun and the Nigerian got off to a good start as he took the opening set at 11-4. However, Sharath fought his way back and breezed through next three sets, winning the tie 4-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9.

It was a similar story in the next match as Sathiyan Gnanasekaran was put through a difficult patch by Segun Toriola, as the latter took the first set. But Sathiyan who India's top-ranked paddler, cruised through to a memorable 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 victory.

Sathiyan was back on court in no time for the third rubber of the tie, where he and Harmeet Desai effectively combined to thwart the duo of Olajide Omotayo and Bode Abiodun 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 to claim the gold.

This is the Indian men's table tennis team's second gold medal at the Games, with the first one coming in 2006.

The results: Team final: India bt Nigeria 3-0 (Sharath Achanta Kamal bt Bode Adiodun 4-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3; Sathiyan Gnansekharan bt Segun Toriola 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4; Harmeet Desai/ Sathiyan Gnanasekaran bt Okodia Omotayo/Bode Abiodun 11-8, 11-5, 11-3. Loser's final : England bt Singapore 3-0. Semifinals: India bt Singapore (Harmeet Desai lost to Ning Gao 9-11, 5-11, 8-11; Sharath Achanta Kamal bt Shao Feng Ethan Poh 11-5, 11-5, 11-4; Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Harmeet Desai bt Xue Jie Pang/Shao Feng Ethan Poh 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8; Sathiyan Gnansekaran lost to Ning Gao 5-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-13; Sharath Achanta Kamal bt Xu Jie Pang 11-5, 12-10, 12-10). Nigeria bt England 3-2.