Haren
With a dominating 3-1 quarterfinals win over hosts Kazakhstan, the Indian men’s table tennis team confirmed a medal at the Asian TT Championships on Wednesday. It will be the third time they medal at the event, after winning bronze in 2021 (Doha) and 2023 (Pyeongchang).
India will now play the winners of the quarterfinal between Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong for a spot in the final.
It was a commanding win for the third seeds, with the youngest player, 24-year-old Manav Thakkar, giving them the perfect start with a straight-game (11,9,11-7, 11-6) win over World No. 46 Kirill Gerassimenko, who had earlier reached the Round-of-16 at the Paris Olympics.
The youngster from Surat, who won the season’s first national-ranking tournament last month, was at his attacking best and gave his opponent absolutely no chance to come back into the match. His forehand attack across the table was sublime and he varied the pace brilliantly too.
Paris: Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar and Sharath Kamal of India react during the Men Team Round of 16 Match between China and India of the Table Tennis competitions in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, at The South Paris Arena in Paris, France, 06 August 2024. (EPA-EFE/RITCHIE B. TONGO VIA PTI)
Harmeet Desai, who is struggling for form of late, lost the next match in straight games to a much lower-ranked opponent in Alan Kurmangaliyev. That loss brought Kazakhstan back into the tie against their higher-seeded opponents.
Sharath Kamal, who played his last Olympics but continues to represent the national team, showed why he is still India’s top player with a dominating 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 12-10) win over Aidos Kenzhigulov to give the men’s team the lead going into the final match of the tie.
Harmeet then sprung into action, coming from a 1-2 deficit at one point in the fourth match against Kirill and overturned that to win 3-2 and give India a spot in the semifinal.
