Asian Games 2023: Indian men's table tennis team starts campaign with a win over Yemen 3-0

The Indian men's table tennis team comprising of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sharath kamal, and Harmeet Desai made a strong start to their Asian Games 2023 campaign by defeating Yemen 3-0 in the Group events on Friday.

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Sathiyan gave India a 1-0 lead. He defeating Ali Omar Ahmed of Yemen 11-3,11-2,11-6 in just 14 minutes in the first match. In the second match, Sharath performed brilliantly and defeated Ebrahim Abdulhakim Mohamm Gubran of Yemen 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 in just 17 minutes and increased India's lead to 2-0.

In the third match, Harmeet Desai defeated Magd Ahmed Ali Aldhubhani 11-1, 11-1, 11-7 in just 6 minutes. After that, he gave India a 3-0 victory. Although Harmeet was offered the first two games 11-1, 11-1, on a platter, Magd Ahmed Ali Aldhubhani made the Indian's life a bit difficult in the potential decider. However, the decider, six minutes long, eventually went 11-7 in favour of Harmeet.

With this impressive start, India is poised to make its mark in the Asian Games 2023. Meanwhile, the Indian men's team will face Singapore in their next match of Group F. The women's team will also start its campaign against Singapore, ready to showcase their prowess on the international stage.

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This is the same Indian team that performed brilliantly in the Commonwealth Games 2022 held in Birmingham, England. There, the team won the gold medal, India's second consecutive win in the event. Sharath Kamal had won four medals in the Commonwealth Games 2022, which included three gold. He also made headlines by winning gold medal in singles in table tennis. This time also there are expectations of a medal from him at the Asian Games 2023.