WATCH: Harmeet/Manush show sportsmanship, concede point after umpire hands them unfair advantage
Harmeet/Manush ultimately lost to their opponents 0-3 but this moment of sportsmanship hogged the limelight.
(Screengrab: World Table Tennis/YouTube)
In a moment displaying true sportsmanship, Indian men's doubles pair Harmeet Desai and Manush Shah intentionally played the ball into the net against their opponents to concede a point during their Round of 32 match in the ongoing World Table Tennis Championships 2023 on Tuesday in Durban.
The Indian duo was playing against Japan's Shunsuke Togami/Yukiya Uda. The Japanese were leading the match 1-0 when in the second game, Manush seemed to serve incorrectly. This prompted a passionate appeal from the Japanese paddlers but the referee gave the point to the Indians.
A lengthy conversation between Harmeet and Manush followed. After a while, Manush was seen intentionally serving into the net, thereby giving a point back to Togami and Uda after they were bereft of a legitimate point.
Watch this moment here:
Harmeet/Manush ultimately lost to their opponents 0-3 (4-11, 3-11, 8-11) and bowed out of the men's doubles category at the World Table Tennis Championships 2023.