Table Tennis
ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup: Indian campaign ends as Akash Pal falls to world No 2
Akash was the lone Indian paddler in the knockout stage of the competition.
Akash Pal knocked out from the round of 16 of ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup 2026. (Photo Credits: ATTU)
Akash Pal, India's lone paddler in the knockout stage, faced a round of 16 exit at the 2026 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup in Haikou, China, on Saturday.
Akash faced a straight games 9-11, 5-11, 9-11 defeat against the world no.2 Lin Shidong of China, ending India's campaign medal less for the second consecutive edition.
India doesn't have a very good record at the continental competition, with just Chetan Baboor (1997, 2000) and Manika Batra (2022) having won medals.
India didn't send their best team to the event this year, giving a chance to youngsters like Akash Pal to show their class in front of a global audience.
Akash had a decent outing at the tournament, qualifying for the knockout stage with a fighting 3-2 win over world no.55 Chinese Taipei's Feng Yi-shin in the group stage.
Another bright spot for India was Ankur Bhattacharjee’s impressive win over world No. 27 Chen Yuanyu in the final group match, though he couldn’t advance beyond the group stage.
Manika Batra, Swastika Ghosh, and Snehit Suravajjulla were also all knocked out from the group stage.