Kamal and Sathiyan lost the first game 7-11 but came back strongly. (Source: Express Archive)
The Indian table tennis contingent slammed the scheduling of the team competition at the Asian Games with the women having to play as many as three matches on the opening day.
Indian women beat Qatar 3-0 in the morning before going down to the mighty Chinese 0-3 in the afternoon session. They are scheduled to play Iran in the evening session.
The Sharath Kamal-led men’s team are scheduled to play two matches. They have beaten UAE 3-0 and play Chinese Taipei later to potentially decide the group winner.
“They have really messed it up with the scheduling here. Two matches in a day are still fine but three is a bit too much. I have not seen such scheduling in the earlier games,” Sharath told PTI.
The Indian men’s team is expected to reach the quarterfinals. The top two teams in each group qualify for the quarterfinals.
“If we lose to Taipei, we will have to play Vietnam at 4pm tomorrow to decide the second and third position. If we win, then we play the quarterfinals at 8 pm. It is absurd,” he added.
If the women’s team beats Iran, it will reach the quarterfinals.