The Indian men’s table tennis team lost to Chinese Taipei 0-3 at the Asian Championships semifinal here on Wednesday, earning a bronze medal as a result.
While Harmeet Desai shown the will to battle, both seasoned Sharath Kamal and the skilled G Sathiyan submitted meekly to their higher ranked opponents in a poor performance.
The 26th-ranked Chuang Chih-Yuan defeated Sharath 6-11, 6-11, 9-11, while Sathiyan lost to world No. 7 Lin Yun-Ju 5-11, 6-11, 10-12 as the third-seeded Indian team fell down 2-0.
Harmeet, the highest-ranked player in the nation at number 63, gave India some hope by defeating Kao Cheng-Jui in a game as he tried to keep the tie alive. However, the world number 33 secured the tie for second-seeded Chinese Taipei with a victory of 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, and 11-9.
The losing semifinalists in the Asian Championships are also given bronze medals.