Birmingham, Aug 2 (Agency) India successfully defended the Table tennis men’s team title after beating Singapore 3-1 in the final on Tuesday. India’s top-ranked singles player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran teamed up with Harmeet Desai in the opening doubles match and defeated Singapore’s Izaac Quek Yong and Pang Yew En Koen 3-0 (13-11, 11-7, 11-5) to give India 1-0 lead. In the second rubber, veteran paddler Sharath Kamal, who beat Nigeria’s world No. 15 Quadri Aruna in the semis, suffered 3-1 (11-7, 12-14, 11-3, 11-9) defeat at the hands of Singapore’s Zhe Yu Clarence Chew.
Sathiyan Gnanasekarn then responded with a 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 4-11) win over 20-year-old Pang Yew En Koen and India went 2-0 up in the tie. Then, Harmeet Desai, playing his only second singles match at Birmingham 2022, outplayed Zhe Yu Clarence Chew, who beat Sharath Kamal in the second match, 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-6) helped India win to defend the title. India have so far won 12 medals including 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze and sits sixth in the tally.