Sunday turned out to be disappointing for India's table tennis campaign at the Asian Games as both the men's and women's teams lost their matches to bow out of medal contention.
The men's team missed out on an Asian Games bronze medal after a second-string South Korea blanked them 3-0 in the quarter finals.
Harmeet Desai lost the first match 0-3 to An Jaehyun. G. Sathiyan tried to put up a fight, but it was not enough to get past Park Ganghyeon as India trailed 0-2 after the first two ties.
The onus was on Achantha Sharath Kamal to bring India back into the contest. However, the veteran from Chennai went down 2-3 to Oh Junsung.
The defeat would be hurting India more as South Korea's top three players did not even play in the match.
G. Sathiyan. PTI
Earlier in the day, Sharath raised his game just in time to help India escape unscathed against Kazakhstan. With the match locked 2-2, Sharath won the deciding contest.
But the women's team imploded against a resilient Thailand to bow out of the Games. Star Indian paddler Manika Batra failed in both her singles matches as the team lost 2-3.
The top-ranked Indian — world No. 31 — lost 7-11, 1-11, 11-13 to left-hander Orawan Paranang, who is ranked No. 67.
But Ayhika Mukherjee repaired the early damage with a significant 18-16, 11-7, 13-15, 11-9 win over Suthasini Sawettabut. Sutirtha Mukherjee provided the lead when she beat Tamolwan Khetkhuan 11-1, 9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7.
But Ayhika failed to consolidate the lead as she lost 2-3 to Orawan. The entire focus shifted to Batra, playing the decisive last rubber. But Suthasini beat Batra 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 to put Thailand in the quarters.
