New Delhi: India’s men paddlers crashed out of the team championships, losing in the quarterfinals to South Korea 0-3 at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in the evening today.
Earlier in the day, Indian women bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals when Thailand defeated them 3-2 in a close match.
G. Sathiyan and A. Sharath Kamal took their ties the distance, but the Indians could not do much against a clinical team.
Harmeet Desai began the proceedings and lost to An Jaehyun in straight games of 11-9, 11-8, 11-9. Sathiyan gave some initial hopes, leading 2-0 before succumbing to the onslaught of Park Ganghyen 12-10, 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 6-11. With a 2-0 cushion, the balance seemed tilted in favour of Korea, despite Sharath winning the first game against Oh Junsung. The Koreans went 2-1 up before conceding another game. But the Indian ace won the next before losing the decider at deuce. The Korean won 2-11, 11-9, 11-1, 2-11, 12-10.
