Asian Games, table tennis: Indian men's team loses to Iran
What's the story
The Indian table tennis contingent endured a mixed bag of results at the 2026 Asian Games on Sunday. While the Indian women won both their matches, the men's team went down after winning its opener. The Indian men started with a convincing win over Indonesia but suffered a shocking defeat against Iran later in the day. Both teams will face Pakistan in their final group-stage fixtures on September 21.
Upset loss
Men's team suffers shock defeat against Iran
The Indian men's team, which included Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manav Thakkar, and Manush Shah, started their day with a comfortable 3-0 win over Indonesia.
However, they were stunned by a lower-ranked Iranian side later in the day.
Noshad Alamiyan (ranked 346th) beat Manush (ranked 43rd) while teenage paddler Benyamin Faraji defeated Manav (World No. 48).
Harmeet Desai tried to salvage the situation but lost to World No. 562 Nima Alamian.
Match details
Women's team remains unbeaten
As mentioned, the Indian women won twice on Sunday.
India's clash against Singapore started with Yashaswini Ghorpade, who beat Jian Zeng. Akula then lost to Loy Ming, which leveled the score at 1-1.
In the next match, Diya Chitale lost 1-3 to Tan Zhao, putting Singapore in front (2-1).
However, Akula returned to face Zeng in a must-win match and leveled the score at 2-2.
In a nail-biting finale, Ghorpade defeated Ming 3-2, sealing the tie for India.
Upcoming fixtures
Update standings and upcoming fixtures
Following the 0-3 defeat against Iran at the 2026 Asian Games, the Indian men's table tennis team will face Pakistan on September 21. In the Group F standings, India sit second with one win (3-0 vs Indonesia) and one loss.