Asian Games, table tennis: Indian women stun Singapore 3-2, men lose 0-3 to Iran

The Indian women's table tennis team staged a spirited comeback to beat Singapore 3-2 in their Group F match at the Asian Games on Sunday, while the men's team suffered a 0-3 defeat to Iran.Sreeja Akula leads India’s push to break table tennis bronze barrier at Asian Games. (Reuters Photo)The Indian women's table tennis team staged a fine comeback to stun Singapore 3-2 in their Group F match at the Asian Games on Sunday, while the men's team suffered a 0-3 defeat to Iran in another Group F encounter.India were staring at defeat after trailing 1-2, but Sreeja Akula and Yashaswini Ghorpade won their respective matches to seal the tie.Ghorpade gave India a winning start by defeating Jian Zeng 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9. However, Sreeja suffered an 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 6-11 defeat to Loy Ming in the second match.ASIAN GAMES 2026, SEPT 20 UPDATES Diya Chitale then went down 7-11, 4-11, 11-7, 5-11 to Tan Zhao as Singapore moved 2-1 ahead.With India needing to win both remaining matches, Sreeja bounced back to beat Jian Zeng 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4 and level the tie at 2-2. Ghorpade then held her nerve in the decider, beating Loy Ming 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9 to complete India's comeback.The men's team, however, endured a disappointing outing against Iran. Manush Shah lost 3-11, 8-11, 10-12 to Noshad Alamiyan in the opening match, while Manav Thakkar went down 2-11, 6-11, 6-11 to Benyamin Faraji.Harmeet Desai put up a stronger fight in the third match but eventually lost 10-12, 15-13, 3-11, 12-10, 2-11 to Alamiyan as Iran completed a 3-0 victory.Both Indian teams will next face Pakistan on Monday.India's men's and women's teams had earlier opened their campaigns with identical 3-0 wins over Indonesia.The women's team began with Sreeja beating Ni Maharani 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4. Diya then defeated Almaira Nebuchadnezzar 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 before Ghorpade sealed the tie with an 12-10, 11-4, 11-4 win over Citra Rasmi.The men's team also secured a 3-0 win, with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beating Muhammad Negara 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.Manav Thakkar then overcame Muhammad Junindra 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in a five-game contest before Manush Shah completed the sweep with an 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 win over Affan Pratama.India's women's team are grouped alongside Indonesia, Pakistan and Singapore in Group F, while the men's team are clubbed with Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia.- EndsPublished By: Saurabh KumarPublished On: Sep 20, 2026 18:03 IST