Asian Table Tennis Championship | Indian men in semis after 3-1 win over Iran; women to face Japan next

The good show by Indian paddlers continues in the Asian Table Tennis Championship, as the men's team entered the semifinal of the event after beating Iran 3-1, according to a report in Olympics.com. It was smooth sailing for the Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan in their respective matches, but Harmeet Desai lost his encounter. 

Sharath started off by winning against Nima Alamian 3-1 (11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5) to hand India an early lead. Then Sathiyan came out tops against Noshad Alamiyan 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6). In the third encounter, Harmeet Desai lost 3-2 to (8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 14-12, 7-11) to Amir Hossein Hodaei.

In fourth match of the day, Sharath won 3-1 (11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9) against Noshad Alamiyan. The Indian team will face the winners of Hong Kong versus South Korea clash on Friday. It is noteworthy that the Indian team had finished fifth in the 2018 edition. With China not taking part in the competition, India could win a medal here. 

Meanwhile, in the women's section, the team has been promoted to the champions division, from the 1st division. The Indian women won their Group matches against Jordan and Nepal, and later Uzbekistan 3-0. 

Archana Kamath got the better of Markhabo Magdieva 3-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-4) in the first match. It was Sutirtha Mukherjee then, who beat Rozalina Khadjieva 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-3). Lastly, Ayhika Mukherjee beat Sugdiyona Madalieva 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7). The Indian team will face Japan in the quarters.