Facing Singapore in the Men’s team final, the duo of Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran gave India a 1-0 lead beating Yong Izaac Quek and Yew En Koen Pang scripted their name in the history books with a straight 3-0 game victory
Sathiyan came up for India in the third matchup against Yew En Koen Pang and defeated the Singapore player 3-1 in best of five to get India the lead back to 2-1. It didn’t go right down to the wire as H. Desai defeated Z. Chew guiding the India Men’s Table Tennis team to the gold medal beating him 3-0 in best of five. The fifth and final match was between Y.I Quek and India’s S. Achanta but team India won the five-match final in the first four games winning 3-1
Earlier in the day, the Indian Lawn Bowls team created history by winning its first-ever medal in the sport beating South Africa 17-10 in the final of the Women’s Fours event.
The Indian quartet of Lovely Choubey (lead), Pinki (second), Nayanmoni Saikia (third) and Rupa Rani Tirkey (skip) staged a stupendous battle against their opponents, with plenty of changes of the lead, before a flurry of points towards the end in India’s favour.
The match began with some excellent throws, but Saikia placed a perfect throw closest to the jack to earn India the opening point after End 1. Johanna Snyman’s jack-hitting last-ditch throw in End 2 then swung it around as South Africa led 2-1. India tied the match in the next End, with Tirkey coming in clutch with a lovely, curving throw from the outside to give India the lead thereafter in the next End.
The excitement ramped up in the twelfth End as India drew level after yet another incredibly precise throw from Tirkey, ending up closest to the jack and earning India two points. Snyman’s impressive form had a blip in the thirteenth End, as she knocked the jack closer to two Indian balls, thus ceding the lead 10-12 in India’s favour. Snyman’s error’s continued in the penultimate End, hitting India’s balls inadvertently, as India took a large five-point lead going into the final End (15-10).