Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 22 (ANI): India suffered a 0-3 defeat to South Korea in the men's team table tennis Round of 16 at the Asian Games 2026 on Tuesday, bringing their campaign in the continental event to an end.
India went 0-2 down after Harmeet Desai and Manush Shah suffered defeats in their respective singles matches. Harmeet went down to Jang Woojin in four games, losing 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 9-11. Manush then fought hard against world-ranked 23 Oh Junsung but eventually lost 2-3 in a closely contested encounter.
Manush took a 2-1 lead after winning the third game 13-11 and also moved ahead 4-1 in the deciding game. However, Oh Junsung fought back to win the decider and sealed the match 11-13, 6-11 after Manush had won the opening games 4-11, 11-8, 13-11. With India needing a win to stay alive in the tie, Manav Thakkar faced An Jaehyun in the third singles.
Manav kept India in contention after winning the third game 11-7, having lost the opening two games 10-12, 6-11. However, An Jaehyun closed out the match in the fourth game, winning 12-10. The 10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12 defeat handed South Korea a 3-0 win in the tie and ended India’s men’s team campaign.
India had a mixed outing at the Asian Games on Tuesday, with the women’s table tennis team advancing to the quarterfinals after beating Thailand 3-2, while the women’s badminton team lost 3-1 to Japan in the quarterfinals.
In shooting, Anantjeet Singh Naruka was second, Mairaj Khan 23rd and Bhavtegh Singh Gill 35th after Day 2 of the men’s skeet individual qualification, while Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished fourth in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team final. Sakshi Chaudhary progressed in boxing after defeating Philippines’ Aira Villegas in the women’s 51kg Round of 32.
In fencing, Taniksha Khatri defeated Natpapat Sangngio in the women’s individual epee Round of 32, while Hemash Singh Sanasam and Sachin exited the men’s individual foil after Round of 32 defeats. Soft tennis saw wins for Aryan Thakur and Jay Meena, while Aadhya Tiwari suffered a defeat.
India’s men’s kabaddi team beat South Korea 63-31, while the sepaktakraw team lost 0-3 to Malaysia. In swimming, Aryan Nehra finished fourth in the men’s 1500m freestyle final B, and India’s 4x100m medley relay team qualified for the final.
Wushu’s Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam finished ninth in the women’s Nanquan final, while Chetan Bhatt and Alisha Choudhary suffered defeats in karate. In equestrian dressage, Ashish Limaye finished 13th, Arjan Nagra 23rd and Fouaad Mirza 26th. India’s eFootball pair of Shakeel Danial Patel and Chinmay Sahoo drew 0-0 with Uzbekistan in Group F. (ANI)
Asian Games 2026: India suffer 0-3 defeat to South Korea in men's table tennis Round of 16
