New Delhi: The Indian men's team lost 0-3 to Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals of the ongoing Asian Table Tennis Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday, due to which it had to settle for a bronze medal. The Indian women's team had won a bronze medal in the same competition on Wednesday, which is the country's first medal in this category of this championship started in 1972.

Sharath Kamal lost to the world number seven player.

World No. 42 veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal faced a tough challenge from world No. 7 Lin Yun Ju and lost 11-7, 12-10, 11-9. After this, Manav Thakkar lost to world No. 22 Cao Cheng-Jui. The Chinese Taipei player defeated Thakkar 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 13-11. The Indian team was trailing 0-2.

Harmeet Desai also lost

Harmeet Desai also faced disappointment in the third match, losing to Huang Yan-Cheng 6-11, 9-11, 7-11. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) said in a release, 'Despite the defeat, the Indian men's team can feel proud as winning a bronze medal in this prestigious Asian Championship is no small achievement. The men's and women's teams showed great spirit and determination, which shows that India is constantly progressing in international table tennis.'