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The Indian men's table tennis team secured a bronze medal at the ongoing Asian Table Tennis Championships being held in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.
In the semifinals of the men's team category, India lost to Chinese Taipei by 0-3. As a part of this competition, both losing semifinal teams are given a bronze medal. Veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal started off things for India by losing to Lin Yun Ju by 0-3 (7-11, 10-12, 9-11). It was followed by Manav Thakkar taking to the field, but losing to Kao Cheng-Juo by 1-3 (9-11, 11-8, 3-11, 13-11). In the last game of the tie, Harmeet Desai also succumbed to Huang Yan Cheng (6-11, 9-11, 7-11), giving a clean sweep victory to Chinese Taipei. The Indian men's table tennis team confirmed the bronze medal for the country in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, where they overcome Kazakhstan's trio of Kirill Gerassimenko, Alan Kurmangaliyev, and Aidos Kenzhigulov with a convincing 3-1 victory. Earlier, the Indian women's team made history by winning a bronze medal, the country's first-ever in the women's team category at the Asian Table Tennis Championships since its inception in 1972. In the semifinals, India suffered a 1-3 defeat to Japan, while Hong Kong defeated China 3-0 in the other semifinal. Both losing semifinalists receive bronze medals in this competition.Ayhika Mukherjee narrowly lost the opening singles match to Miwa Harimoto 2-3 (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11, 7-11). Manika Batra brought India back into contention with a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-8) victory over Satsuki Odo. However, Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Mima Ito 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 15-13), and Harimoto clinched the tie for Japan with a 3-1 win over Manika (11-3, 6-11, 11-2, 11-3). India had confirmed its bronze medal with a thrilling 3-2 victory over South Korea in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. (ANI)
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