The Indian men’s table tennis team beat Singapore in the final of the Commonwealth Games 2022 on August 2 to clinch another gold medal for the country. With this win, the team managed a repeat of their gold-winning effort at the CWG 2018.
India fielded its tried and tested line-up in the opening doubles match — top-ranked singles player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran teamed up with Harmanpreet Desai to beat the Singaporean duo of Izaac Quek Yong and Pang Yew En Koen.
However, in an upset, India's national champion Sharath Kamal lost to Singapore's Zhe Yu Clarence Chew.
Under pressure, India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran responded with a win over 20-year-old Singaporean Pang Yew En Koen.
Thereafter, Harmanpreet Desai, playing only his second singles match at CWG 2022, faced a free-flowing Zhe Yu Clarence Chew, who had beaten Sharath Kamal in the second match. He wore out the energy-sapped Singaporean and helped India win gold at men’s table tennis event at the CWG 2022.
Here are brief profiles of the four players:
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
Born in Chennai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is the first Indian paddler ever to reach the World Top 25 ITTF rankings. He achieved the feat in 2019 and held on to the 24th position in the world rankings. In the same year, he reached the quarterfinal of the men’s singles at the Asian TT Championships to become the first Indian paddler to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament in 43 years. Sathiyan played a pivotal role in winning the gold medal for India with two wins at the CWG 2022.
Sharath Kamal
Achanta Sharath Kamal is an Indian table tennis veteran who also hails from Chennai. He was introduced to table tennis at the age of four as his father along with his uncle taught him the technicalities of the game. Achanta Sharath Kamal made his international debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics and in the same year he clinched his first international gold medal in men’s singles at the 16th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he alongside Subhajit Saha, clinched the gold medal in men’s doubles category, following it up with a bronze medal in the men’s team event.
Harmanpreet Desai
Harmanpreet Desai is a senior-level table tennis player and an Arjuna Award recipient in 2019. Born in Surat, Gujarat, Harmanpreet was trained by his father in the initial phase of his career. Harmanpreet has won several medals on the national and international stage with his right-hand offensive playing style including the men’s singles title at Commonwealth Games Championship event in 2019.
Sanil Shetty
Born in Mumbai, Sanil Shetty was not destined to become a professional athlete. In an interview with imd1, Sanil said he was born with a hole in his heart and his parents believed he would take up a non-sporting career. However, seeing his brother win medals in the sport at age nine, Sanil persuaded his parents to take up the game. Teaming up with his brother Sachin and his coach Deepak Mani, Sanil forayed into the world of table tennis and has never looked back. Sanil Shetty won bronze in the men’s doubles event at Commonwealth Games 2018 and was part of the Indian team that won gold in the men’s team event at Commonwealth Games 2018.
