The Indian duo of Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan lost to England’s Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford in the men’s doubles final at the Commonwealth Games here on Sunday.
The Sharath-Sathiyan pair had to settle for a silver medal for the second consecutive edition of the multi-nation event. They lost by 1-8, 8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 4-11 to the English combine.
It was a repeat of 2018 final in Gold Coast and to the disappointment of the Indians, the result was the same too.
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 leveled the tie.
The Indians were able to take the final to the decider after course correction in the fourth game.
However, Drinkhall and Pitchford took a huge six-point lead from 4-4 to gain six gold medal points in the fifth game. They converted the very first one drawing a huge roar from the crowd.
The Indian pair shook hands with their opponents who once again proved better on the day.
With the silver, 40-year-old Sharath increased his CWG medal count to 11 with the mixed doubles gold medal match scheduled later on Sunday. He is also in contention for a singles medal.
(Inputs from PTI)
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