Indian men table tennis team reserved their berth in the champions division in the next edition of the Asian Table tennis Championships on Tuesday after defeating Singapore 3-0 in Positions 5-8 match.
India now take on Hong Kong who defeated Iran, in the match for fifth position on Wednesday.
The Indian men secured a quarte-final spot in the Champions Division as the top-six finishers gain direct entry in the next Championships, two years hence.
“This is an achievement in itself,” said Sharath Kamal, who played an important role in carving out a laboured win against Singapore today. This was despite the exhaustion which forced him to withdraw against Tomokazu Harimoto on Monday. “I was happy to see India through today,” he added.
In the match against Singapore, Sathiyan beat Poh Shao Feng Ethan in straight games of 11-5, 11-5, 13-11. But Sharath, still trying regain his full fitness, downed Pang Yew En Koen, in a comeback win. He reserved his best for the last two games and pulled it off nicely, winning 7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, and put India 2-0 ahead.
Anthony Amalraj was the third-choice player this morning and it proved a right option for India as the former national champion downed Chua Josh Shao Han 7-1, 11-7, 15-13, 11-9.
Earlier in the quarter-finals, India went down 3-1 to fourth-seeded Japan despite Sathiyan scripting a victory for himself.
Also on Monday, the Indian women finished ninth, pushing Malaysia a spot behind. The combination of Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar and Archana Kamath made it look easy with a 3-0 verdict against the Malaysian rivals.