Indian men finish fifth, win gold in 1st Division at Asian TT Championship

The Indian men's team logged their best ever result at ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships, finishing fifth after beating Hong Kong 3-1 in the classification match here on Wednesday.

The Indian team also defeated Iran 3-0 to clinch the gold medal in the champions division.

In the classification match, India tried out a new opening with Sharath Kamal, who after the initial struggle, managed to put it across Lam Siu Hang 9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7 to provide the lead.

In the second tie, Anthony Amalraj beat NG Pak Nam 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7, while in the third singles, G Sathiyan defeated Kwan Man Ho 11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 14-12.

In the second and fourth games, Sathiyan won the last on his second match-point. He was the lone Indian who did not lose a single match in team event, having played all matches from 1st Division to finishing fifth in the Champions Division.

In the final of the 1st Division, Sharath opened again for India and downed Amin Ahmadin 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, while both Sathiyan and Amalraj were stretched fully.

Sathiyan beat Air Hossein Hodaei 6-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10 while Amalraj accounted for Noshad Alamiyan 18-16, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 as India won the yellow metal.

The individual events will begin tomorrow.