The India men’s team lost to Japan after squandering a number of chances to lose 2-3 in the quarter-finals of the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Wuxi, China on Tuesday, PTI reported.
Soumyajit Ghosh had given India a perfect start with a win over Yuya Oshima (7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6), Sharath Kamal held a total of three match points in the fourth game against Koki Niwa before losing 11-1, 6-11, 8-11, 14-12, 12-10.
The agony continued as Harmeet Desai, despite leading 2-1 and 10-10 in the fourth game against Kenta Matsudaira, suffered a five-game defeat (5-11, 8-11, 11-2, 14-12, 11-6).
But Sharath returned with a vengeance to beat Yuya Oshima 11-8, 11-13, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6 and set up an intriguing decider between Ghosh and Koki Niwa.
Ghosh began well, but eventually lost as the verdict went in favour of Koki Niwa, who won 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 to be the hero of the hour.
India, who subsequently lost the 5-6 positions match against Hong Kong 0-3, will now play for the 7-8 positions on Wednesday.