India at Asian Games on Sep 22: Table tennis stars begin campaign, IND volleyball team hope to continue dream run
The likes of Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal will be in action as the table tennis events kick off on September 22 in Hangzhou.
India's table tennis players start off their Asian Games campaign in Hangzhou with the team events on Friday. While the men's team play two matches, the women's team have one tie scheduled for September 23 at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium, which is a day before the opening ceremony.
India also remained in the hunt in the men's single scull in rowing where Balraj Panwar made the semi-final and he will fight or a place in the final on Friday. Meanwhile, the Indian men's volleyball team take on Chinese Taipei at the China Textile City Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The table tennis events start at 10am local time (7.30am IST) at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium. The men's team will be in action first for India and they will face Yemen at 9.30am IST. The women's team then face Singapore at 1.30pm IST after which the men's team go up against Singapore at 3.30pm IST. Panwar, meanwhile, will take the water in the semifinals of rowing men's single sculls at 1pm.
The Indian men's volleyball team face Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarterfinals at 11am. The team go into the match on a high, having topped their group table by stunning world No. 27 South Korea 3-2 (25-27, 29-27, 25-22, 20-25, 17-15) in a nail-biting encounter at the Linping Sports Center Gymnasium on Wednesday. India had earlier beaten Cambodia 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-19) on Tuesday.
South Korea, the 2018 Asian Games silver medallists, won the first set in 32 minutes, but the Indians, riding on some exemplary attacking play from wing spiker Amit Guria, stormed back to take the next two.
Guria, in fact, ended the match as the top scorer with 24 points, followed by Ashwal Rai (16) and Vinit Kumar (15). India looked primed to wrap up the game in four after taking the second and third sets, but the Koreans, particularly NA Gyeongbok, dug in. Errors from Erin Varghese didn't help India's cause as Koreans drew level. The fifth set was a cagey affair too with India slipping from 8-4 up to trailing 11-10. Korea saved two match points and had a match point saved but eventually, India held on to secure a famous win in 2 hours and 23 minutes.
Check out India's full schedule at Asian Games on September 21:
Rowing: Men's single sculls semi-finals (1pm IST)
Table Tennis: Men's and women's team events
Men's: India vs Yemen (9.30am IST)
Women's: India vs Singapore (1.30pm IST)
Men's: India vs Singapore (3.30pm IST)
Volleyball: Men's pre-quarterfinals India vs Chinese Taipei (11am)
