Indian men’s team wins third straight bronze medal at Asian Table Tennis Championships

Assured of a medal after defeating Kazakhstan 3-1 in the quarterfinals, the Indian men’s team went down 0-3 to Chinese Taipei in the Asian Championships semifinals.

FILE PHOTO: Sharath Kamal (in pic)-led India men’s team clinched a bronze medal at the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Indian men’s team finished with its third straight bronze medal at the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday after losing 0-3 to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.

India also bagged bronze medals in 2021 and 2023.

Sharath Kamal went down 0-3 (7-11, 10-12, 9-11) to Lin Yun-Ju in the opening singles rubber.

In the second singles match, Manav Thakkar fought hard before losing 1-3 (9-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-13) to Kao Cheng-Jui.

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Harmeet Desai was unable to grab a single game in the must-win third singles tie as he lost 0-3 (6-11, 9-11, 7-11) to Huang Yan-Cheng.

Indian team had defeated host Kazakhstan 3-1 in the quarterfinals to confirm a medal.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the Indian women’s team clinched its first-ever medal, a bronze, at the continental event since the Asian Table Tennis Union started conducting the competition in 1972.