Sharath Achanta of India competes against Bode Abiodun of Nigeria during the Men's Team Table Tennis Gold Medal Match
After a historic gold for India women's team in table tennis, it's the turn of Indian male paddlers to show their masterclass and prove their dominance in the sport. The India men's team outclassed Nigeria 3-0 in the big final at Oxenford Studios to clinch the gold. India last won the men's team table tennis gold in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Repeating the success after a gap of 12 years, the Indian team of Sharath Achanta, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai stamped their class over their Nigerian counterparts and gave them no chance in the final match.
In the first match, India's top-ranked male player Sharath Kamal started slowly and lost the first game 4-11 against Bode Abiodun. However, the experienced 35-year old Indian made a brilliant comeback and took the next three games 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 to give India the lead in the important final.
It was a similar start for Sathiyan Gnanasekaran who lost the close first game of the second match to Segun Toriola by 10-12. But just like Sharath, Sathiyan returned in emphatic fashion to clinch the second match by 11-3,11-3, and 11-4.
Riding high on confidence after the 2-0 lead over Nigeria, the Indian male paddlers sealed the final with another enthralling display of speed and agility in the third match. The Indian duo of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai won the match in straight games 11-8. 11-5 and 11-3.
Earlier in the day, the Indian men's table tennis team upstaged defending champions Singapore to enter the finals of the 21st Commonwealth Games.
Following in the footsteps of the women's team, which stunned Singapore to clinch its maiden gold in the CWG, the men's team got the better of the Asian powerhouse 3-2.
India's very own veteran star A Sharath Kamal won both his singles matches against Xue Jie Pang and Shao Feng Ethan Poh by similar margins of 3-0.
In the doubles, the combination of Sathiyan and Desai rallied for a 3-1 win over Pang and Poh to clinch the issue for India.
After the historic gold in women's team table tennis on Sunday, it was the turn of Indian male paddlers to extend their dominance in the men's team event. They beat Nigeria 3-0 to win India's 9th gold at CWG2018.
