Toyota (Japan): 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 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).
Orissa POST – Odisha’s No.1 English Daily