India goes down to South Korea in Asian Games 2026 Table Tennis Men’s Team knockouts

FILE PHOTO: Manush Shah managed to stretch World No. 23 Oh Junsung to five games but ultimately finished on the wrong end. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP

The Indian campaign in the men’s team event at the Asian Games 2026 ended in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, with South Korea handing it a 3-0 defeat.

The Koreans took an unassailable 3-0 lead from the first three matches to set up a quarterfinal clash with Hong Kong, China.

India began the tie on the front foot. Harmeet Desai took the opening game against Jang Woojin 11-8, but the World No. 11 fought back to win the next three games 11-7, 11-8 and 11-9, giving Korea the advantage.

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The second contest was much closer, with Manush Shah pushing World No. 23 Oh Junsung to five games before going down 11-4, 8-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-6 in 54 minutes.

Manav Thakkar could not prevent An Jaehyun from completing Korea’s clean sweep. The World No. 36 won 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 12-10 to end India’s run.

India qualified for the first knockout round after finishing second in Group F behind Iran, having beaten Indonesia and Pakistan.

In the previous edition of the Games, the Indian men’s team reached the quarterfinals before losing 0-3 to the same opposition. China went on to beat South Korea for gold in the final.