The Indian Men’s Table Tennis team completed a remarkable sweep at the Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth games, following in the trail blazed by the women’s team and winning the Gold today.

The win over Nigeria in the finals was predicted by many, as India made winning a habit in the run-up to the final, also getting the better of reigning champions Singapore in the semi-final of the tournament.

The Indian Men’s Team started the competition in dominating fashion, trouncing Trinidad and Tobago and Northern Ireland 3-0 without breaking a sweat in the group stages. Amalraj Anthony, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sharath Kamal, Sanil Shetty and Harmeet Desai all did their bit in the singles and doubles categories to ensure that the passage into the knock out stages was smooth.

The quarter-final game against Malaysia continued in the same vein, as Harmeet Desai and Sharath Kamal delivered the goods in the singles category, while Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran combined to make it a clean sweep, winning the doubles match, thus setting up a meeting with Champions of 2014, Singapore.

Singapore posed a real threat to India’s dreams of a gold, as they got off to a flying start with Ning Gao defeating Harmeet Desai in straight sets in the singles match. Sharath Kamal made up for it by winning the next match in straight sets against Shao Feng Ethan Poh. After four matches, it was down to Sharath Kamal again to step up and swing the game in India’s favour, and he did not disappoint, winning the singles game against Xue Jie Pang in straight sets. India won the semi-final 3-2, which set up a final clash with Nigeria.

Once the hurdle against Singapore was safely navigated, India got back to its dominating ways against Nigeria, winning the fixture 3-0. Sharath Achanta and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran dropped a set each in their singles match against Bode Abiodun and Segun Toriola respectively but came back strong once they found their feet. Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran put the icing on the cake against Olajide Omotayo and Bode Abiodun in the doubles match to confirm victory and bring glory to team India.

In a first for Table Tennis, this has been India’s most successful campaign at the Commonwealth Games, the only time both the Men’s and Women’s team have won Gold. Needless to say, a hero’s welcome awaits the athletes who have made the country proud!