CWG 2022 | Sharath-Sathiyan lose to familiar foes again, settle for silver in table tennis

The Indian duo had to settle for silver for the second successive edition after losing 11-8, 8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 4-11 to the English combine.

The seasoned Indian pair of Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan was outsmarted by familiar foes Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford of England in the men's doubles final at the Commonwealth Games in BIrmingham on August 7, 2022.

The Indian duo had to settle for silver for the second successive edition after losing 11-8, 8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 4-11 to the English combine.

It was a repeat of the 2018 final in Gold Coast and to the disappointment of the Indians, it was the same result.

The Indian contingent has been getting tons of support from the crowd here but at the NEC table tennis arena on Sunday, English fans outnumbered the Indians.

With very little separating the two pairs, the Indians began well with Sathiyan hitting a crisp forehand winner to go 1-0 up in the gold medal match.

Drinkhall and Pitchford fought back in the second game. A down the line backhand from Pitchford made it 5-1 for England. The Indians were having a tough time retrieving the serve with their opponents mixing things up.

Sharath's returns from the backhand were yielding mixed results. Pitchford's cross court winner after a long rally gave England a 7-5 lead before they levelled the tie.