The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Indian men go down to Argentina

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Monday, May 01, 2006

Sport

Sport - Table Tennis

Indian men go down to Argentina

Bremen (Germany): Indian men went down 2-3 to lowly Argentina in a playoff match of the World team table tennis championship here on Sunday.

India, which had already squandered the chance to qualify for the Division I, losing to England 2-3 on Saturday in the pre-quarterfinals, began the tie disastrously with spearhead Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha losing the first two matches against their Argentine opponents. But, Pathik Mehta, who was given the chance to play in the inconsequential tie, beat Alto Gaston Diego in straight games.

Sharath Kamal then made it 2-2 coming back from a set down against Tabachnik Pablo. A rejuvenated Subhajit Saha put up a gritty fight against Liu Song only to lose a gruelling five-game match to concede victory to Argentina. India will now play Slovenia, which also lost to Bulgaria 0-3, for the 35th place.

The results: Men: Argentina bt India 3-2 (Liu Song bt Achanta Sharath Kamal 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4; Tabachnik Pablo bt Subhajit Saha 11-9, 13-11, 11-6; Pathik Mehta bt Alto Gaston Diego 13-11, 11-3, 11-6; Achanta Sharath Kamal bt Tabachnik Pablo 13-11, 11-5 12-14, 12-10; Liu Song bt Subhajit Saha 6-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-2).

Women (semifinals): China bt Belarus 3-0. — Agencies

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