GANDHIDHAM, Oct. 4: Gujarat’s Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar settled for the bronze at the 25th Asian Table Tennis Championships in Doha on Monday.
In the semis, the Surat pair of Harmeet and Manav put up a brave fight against the South Korean pair of Woojin Jang and Jonghoon Lim.
However, the eighth seeded Indians could not match the experience of their rivals before suffering a fighting 4-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11 loss against their fifth seed rivals.
India picked up another bronze when the sixth seeded pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan also settled for a third place finish with a 5-11, 9-11, 11-13 loss against the Japanese pair of Yukiya Uda and Shunsuke Togami in the other semi-final.
Despite the loss, it was an impressive performance by the Indian men’s team as they made history at the Asian Championships by winning the team bronze last week before adding doubles bronze medals.
“Despite their semi-final loss, it was an impressive performance by the men’s team as they had picked three medals in the tournament,” Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) president Mr. Vipul Mittra, IAS said. “I also want to congratulate both Harmeet and Manav for their fighting performance that impressed all. I am sure we will see many more inspiring performances from our players,” Mr Mittra, IAS, added.
Written by : Pranjal Protim Boruah
