New Delhi
Indian men’s table tennis team scripted history as they defeated Nigeria 3-0 in the final to clinch the coveted gold in 21st Commonwealth Games being held at Gold Coast. With another gold, India’s gold medal tally has been raised to nine. This is for the first time, India men’s and women’s team have won the gold medal in the same edition. Veteran paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal took the first game as G Sathiyan won the second and the duo of Harmeet and G Sathiyan won the third and decisive game to hand India the gold. India men’s team has won a CWG medal after a gap of 12 years.
Earlier, Indian men’s table tennis team upstaged defending champions Singapore to enter the finals. Following the footsteps of the women’s team, which stunned Singapore to clinch its maiden gold in the CWG, the men’s team got the better of the Asian powerhouse 3-2. Veteran Gao Ning was the only one who managed to record singles victories for Singapore. The 35-year-old legend, a three-time gold medallist at CWG, defeated Harmeet Desai and G Sathiyan 3-0 and 3-1 respectively but the rest of his team fell apart against the Indians. India’s very own veteran star A Sharath Kamal won both his singles matches against Xue Jie Pang and Shao Feng Ethan Poh by similar margins of 3-0. In the doubles, the combination of Sathiyan and Desai rallied for a 3-1 win over Pang and Poh to clinch the issue for India.
