Indian paddlers staged a sensational turnaround against higher-ranked Singapore to snatch the men's team event gold at the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on Monday.
Shrugging off a 0-2 defecit, Subhajit Saha, and Soumyadeep Roy made a remarkable comeback to win the next three matches and dash Singapore's hopes with a 3-2 upset.
Singapore, who had earlier won the women's team gold in table tennis, could not make it a golden delight as a fighting Indian team held their nerves and generated enough firepower to turn the tables on Singapore.
India, the bronze medallists in the last edition of the Games, started their title quest on a disatarous note as Soumyadeep Roy was thrashed 0-3 by Yanz Zi in the opening match.
Yang Zi registered a confident 11-5 11-3 11-8 win over Roy before Achanta Sharath's Kamal went down to Li Xiao Cai 11-9 9-11 11-3 7-11 8-11 in a see saw battle.
With their backs to wall, national champion Subhajit Saha pulled off one against Jason Ho 3-1. Saha put up an inspiring performance to overpower Jason 10-12 11-5 11-7 12-10.
Sharath Kamal then scored a huge upset toppling world No 56 Yang Zi 3-2 in a thrilling encounter to level the scores. Sharath Kamal, ranked 150, churned out his best to stun Zi 5-11 11-6 6-11 11-7 11-7.
With the the tie poised on Knife's edge, Roy played with purpose to beat Li Xiao Cai 11-6 11-8 7-11 11-6 as an jubliant Indian squad broke into wild celebration.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|