Toyota (Japan), Sep 22 (PTI) The Indian women’s team crashed out of the Asian Games table tennis quarterfinals after a 0-3 defeat to North Korea but did one better than their men counterparts, who were ousted in the round of 16, here on Tuesday.
The Indian women’s team had beaten Thailand 3-2 to make it to the last eight with a hard-fought win at the Sky Hall, but could not continue their momentum and suffered a crushing defeat in the quarterfinal against the Koreans.
The world No. 164, Kim Kum Yong defeated the highest ranked Indian women’s singles player Sreeja Akula, No. 58, in straight games for a commanding 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-5) victory in the first match.
In the second, DPRK’s Pyon Song Gyong, ranked No. 179, crushed the 76th ranked Indian Yashaswini Ghorpade 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-6) for another one-sided win.
Trailing 0-2, India needed something special from No.66 Diya Chitale but she went down fighting against the 169th-ranked Cha Su Yong 0-3 (9-11, 7-11, 8-11).
Earlier, the Indian women’s team had edged out Thailand 3-2.
Sreeja was defeated 2-3 (11-7, 11-1, 9-11, 6-11, 10-12) by Orawan Paranang in the opening match.
The second match too went into five games as Yashaswini edged out her opponent Suthasini Sawettabut 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9).
Diya Chitale, however, suffered a defeat to Jinnipa Sawettabut, losing to the Thai rival 2-3 (7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-13).
In the fourth match, Yashaswini brought India back with a dominant 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-9) win over Paranang. With the team scoreline reading 2-2, Sreeja bounced back to win the fifth and deciding match against Suthasini 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8).
However, it was a disappointing outing for the Indian men’s team, also against Korea, which bowed out of the competition.
Harmeet Desai made a winning start with an 11-8 victory in the first game, but lost the next three to Korea’s Jang Woo-jin to go down 1-3 (11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 9-11) in the match.
In the second match, Manush Shah was under the pump following a 4-11 hammering in the first game but bounced back to win the next two. However, his opponent Oh Jungsung clinched the match 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-13, 6-11).
There was no respite for India as Manav Thakkar began with a 10-12 loss in the first game, before losing the third match to An Jaeh-yun 1-3 (10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12). PTI DDV ATK DDV UNG
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