Commonwealth Games 2022: By defeating the giant-killer Malaysian pair of Javen Choong and Karen Lyne in Birmingham on Sunday night, A. Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula gave India its first-ever Commonwealth Games mixed doubles gold medal and the second table tennis gold in Birmingham.
In Commonwealth Games 2022 Sharath and Sreeja extended their tournament winning streak to 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 over Choong and Lyne, who had previously defeated pre-tournament favourites G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra.
GOLD FOR SHARATH AND SREEJA 🔥
🇮🇳's dynamic #TableTennis Mixed Doubles 🏓pair – the young sensation #SreejaAkula & the evergreen @sharathkamal1 team up to clinch the GOLD 🥇 at #CommonwealthGames2022
🇮🇳 wins 3-1 against 🇲🇾 in the XD final
A pairing to remember! 🤩#Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/oFRtlnOOjQ
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 7, 2022
India’s men’s team, led by Sharath, had previously won the team championship.
Sharath, who had earlier reached the men’s singles final despite finishing second in the men’s doubles category with Sathiyan, is now on track for a treble-gold medal haul.
Sreeja, the star of India’s women paddlers this week, received a well-deserved medal on top of the podium to cap off a memorable week. Sreeja overcame her disappointment in the singles bronze medal playoff and starred in the final match of the day with her powerful forehand winners.
Sharath gives Sreeja the spotlight in Commonwealth Games 2022:
Sharath, who had already played two matches that day, was content to let Sreeja take centre stage and chipped in consistently against a relatively inexperienced pairing.
Earlier in the evening, Sharath defeated England’s Paul Drinkhall in six hard-fought games in the men’s singles semifinal, while Sathiyan fell to England No. 1 Liam Pitchford.
Pitchford was too aggressive and quick for Sathiyan, who struggled on multiple fronts in the semifinal. While Sharath will compete against Pitchford in the final on Monday, Sathiyan will look to earn his first CWG medal by defeating Drinkhall in the bronze medal playoff.
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