India women reach Asian Games table tennis quarter-finals after 3-2 win over Thailand; men eliminated by South Korea

India’s women’s table tennis team beat Thailand 3-2 to reach the quarter-finals at the Asian Games 2026 on Tuesday, while the Indian men’s team were knocked out after a 3-0 loss to South Korea in the round of 16.

The women’s victory keeps India one win away from a first-ever Asian Games team medal, and continued the country’s search for more table tennis hardware beyond the three Asiad medals it has so far, only one of which was in a team event — the men’s bronze in 2018. India needed to come from behind in the tie to advance.

Thailand took the early lead when Orawan Paranang recovered from two games down to beat top-ranked Sreeja Akula 3-2; Akula won the first two games 11-7, 11-1 before Paranang claimed the next three 11-9, 11-6 and 12-10.

Yashaswini Ghorpade levelled the tie with a five-game win over Suthasini Sawettabut, prevailing 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9; the report notes Ghorpade is 21 years old.

Jinnipa Sawettabut then put Thailand ahead again by defeating Diya Chitale 3-2; Chitale lost the first game 7-11, won the next two 11-5 and 11-7, but Jinnipa took the fourth 11-7 and the decider 13-11.

Facing elimination, Ghorpade produced a straight-games victory over Paranang, winning 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-9) in 21 minutes, and Sreeja Akula closed the tie by beating Suthasini Sawettabut after losing the opening game 9-11 and then winning 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 to seal India’s 3-2 win.

The Indian men’s team lost 3-0 to South Korea in the round of 16: Harmeet Desai began by winning the first game against Jang Woojin 11-8 but dropped the next three 8-11, 7-11, 9-11; Manush Shah lost 3-2 to world No. 23 Oh Junsung; and Manav Thakkar was beaten by An Jaehyun to finish the tie.

India will meet North Korea in the women’s team quarter-finals later today; North Korea were awarded a bye in the round of 16, while the men’s campaign concluded with the loss to South Korea.