India produced a clinical display to defeat Pakistan 3-0 in the men’s team table tennis competition at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, recovering from their earlier loss to Iran.
Harmeet Desai set the tone for India, defeating Khan Muhammad 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 in the opening rubber.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran doubled the advantage in the second match, making light work of Abbas Khan with an 11-1, 11-8, 11-9 victory.
Payas Jain then completed the job for India, overcoming Khan Muhammad 11-2, 11-5, 11-7 to give the team a 3-0 win without conceding a single game.
India had earlier opened their Group F campaign with a victory over Indonesia before suffering a defeat against Iran. The win over Pakistan temporarily put the Indian team at the top of the group with five points from three matches, although Iran still have a match against Indonesia to play.
In the women’s team event, India also advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Pakistan 3-0 in their second Group F encounter.
The Indian women had begun their campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Singapore on Sunday before securing a comprehensive win over their neighbours to progress to the knockout stage.
