The Indian women’s table tennis team swept past Pakistan 3-0 to top Group F and qualify for the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday.
Sutirtha Mukherjee, who won a bronze medal in women’s doubles at the previous edition in Hangzhou, gave India a winning start by defeating Aleena Khan 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 in just 10 minutes.
Asian Games debutant Syndrela Das then beat Kalsoom Khan 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 to put India within touching distance of victory.
Sreeja Akula completed the clean sweep with an 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 win over Fatima Khan.
The victory gave India three wins from three matches and the top spot in Group F.
In the men’s competition, India opened their Group F campaign with a 3-0 win over Indonesia on Sunday. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated Muhammad Negara 3-0, Manav Thakkar beat Muhammad Junindra 3-2, and Manush Shah overcame Affan Pratama 3-0.
However, the Indian men’s team suffered a 0-3 defeat to Iran in their second group tie later in the day. Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai all lost their respective matches.
India will face Pakistan in their final group match later on Monday.
Seven gold medals are at stake in table tennis across men’s and women’s singles, doubles and team events, besides mixed doubles. The team events will be followed by the individual competitions, with the final medal events scheduled for September 28.
India have won three table tennis medals at the Asian Games, all bronze. The country claimed its first medal in the sport at Jakarta 2018, when the men’s team won bronze. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra later added another bronze in mixed doubles.
At Hangzhou 2023, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee won bronze in women’s doubles, giving India its first Asian Games medal in the event. Sutirtha is part of the Indian women’s team at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
(IANS Inputs)
