Indian pair of Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan lost to England’s Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford in the men’s doubles final of the Commonwealth Games here on Sunday.
The Sharath-Sathiyan duo had to be content with a silver medal for the second consecutive edition of the multi-nation competition. They lost to the English alliance 1-8, 8-11, 3-11, 11-7, 4-11.
It was a repeat of the 2018 final at Gold Coast and much to the dismay of the Indians, the result was the same.
With little separation of the two pairs, the Indians got off to a good start as Sathiyan beat the forehand winner to take a 1-0 lead in the gold medal match.
Drinkhall and Pitchford made a comeback in the second game. A down-the-line backhand from Pitchford made it 5–1 for England. The Indians were having a tough time reclaiming serve with their opponents mixing things up.
Sharath’s comeback from the backhand was giving mixed results. After a long rally, the cross-court winner of Pitchford gave England a 7-5 lead before leveling the tie.
After improving in the fourth game, the Indians were able to reach the final.
However, Drinkhall and Pitchford took a huge six-point lead at 4-4 to collect six gold medal points in the fifth game. He converted the 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 silver, 40-year-old Sharath increased his CWG medal tally to 11 with a mixed doubles gold medal match to be held later on Sunday. He is also in the running for the singles medal.
(Inputs from PTI)