Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 20 (ANI): India’s men’s table tennis team suffered a 0-3 defeat to Iran in their Group F encounter at the Asian Games 2026 on Sunday, after Nima Alamian edged Harmeet Desai in a five-game contest to seal the tie.
Nima stepped up in the deciding game to beat Harmeet 11-2, completing a 12-10, 13-15, 11-3, 10-12, 11-2 victory and handing Iran an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Earlier, Noshad Alamiyan defeated Manush Shah 11-3, 11-8, 12-10, while Benyamin Faraji beat Manav Thakkar 11-2, 11-6, 11-6 to put Iran firmly in control.
The result came after the Indian men’s team had begun their campaign with a 3-0 win over Indonesia in their opening Group F tie.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah won their respective matches against Indonesia. Thakkar overcame Muhammad Junindra 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in a five-game battle, while Shah defeated Affan Pratama 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 to seal the tie.
India’s women’s team also opened with a 3-0 victory over Indonesia before edging Singapore 3-2 in another Group F encounter.
India’s opening day at the Aichi-Nagoya Games featured medals and strong performances across several disciplines.
In shooting, Elavenil Valarivan won silver in the women’s 10m air rifle individual final and teamed up with Sonam Maskar and Vidarsa Vinod to claim another silver in the team event, opening India’s medal tally.
In mixed martial arts, Suchika Tariyal secured a medal after defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the women’s traditional 60kg quarterfinal.
India’s women’s hockey team began their campaign with a 19-0 win over Uzbekistan, while the men defeated Indonesia 13-1 in Pool A.
The Indian women’s cricket team defeated Bangladesh in the semifinal to book a place in the gold-medal match, where they will face Sri Lanka, who beat Pakistan in the other semifinal.
India’s women’s badminton team also began its campaign with a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan.
In swimming, Rishabh Das finished sixth in the men’s 100m backstroke final after qualifying fifth from the heats. Utkarsh Patil finished 12th in the heats, while Benediction Beniston and Akash Mani placed 12th and 23rd, respectively, in the men’s 100m freestyle heats.
In wushu, Suraj Singh Mayanglambam finished 11th in the men’s Changquan final, while Aparna Dahiya and Vikrant Baliyan lost their respective Sanda Round of 16 bouts.
In teqball, Quimcy Dsouza lost the women’s singles bronze-medal match, while Dsouza and Mohamed Anas Beg were defeated in the mixed doubles bronze-medal contest. (ANI)
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