<p>Harmeet Desai raised his game in the decisive singles as the Indian men's table tennis team retained its Commonwealth Games gold medal after a close fight against Singapore here on Tuesday.</p>.<p>World no. 121 Harmeet outsmarted 133rd-ranked Zhe Yu Clarence Chew 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 in the third singles to ensure India's third gold men's team medal in CWG history.</p>.<p>The gold was India's seventh since the sport's inception in Manchester 2002.</p>.<p>India were expected to beat Singapore but Clarence accounted for veteran Sharath Kamal in the first singles to level the match at 1-1.</p>.<p>Harmeet and Sathiyan had little difficulty in getting past Yong Izaak Que and Ye En Koen Pang in the opening doubles.</p>.<p>Sathiyan had given India a 2-1 lead with a 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 victory over lower-ranked Pang.</p>.<p>The stand-out performance came from India's third player, Harmeet.</p>.<p>Sharath had struggled to contain Clarence but Harmeet went on the offensive against the left-hander and ensured that he did not get room to go for his powerful forehand winners. Harmeet's backhand was also on fire as he won majority of the long rallies.</p>.<p>In the first singles, Sharath went down 7-11, 14-12, 3-11,9-11 against Clarence. Whenever, the Indian placed the ball deep on Clarence's forehand, the return was a winner.</p>.<p>Two net chords helped Sharath in the second game but Clarence comfortably won the next two.</p>.<p>India had beaten a stronger opponent in Nigeria on Monday with Sharath stunning world number 15 Aruna Quadri. But his loss against a much lower ranked opponent on Tuesday showed rankings did not matter much in a multi sporting event.</p>.<p>India had won the team gold for the first in Melbourne 2006 before repeating the feat in Gold Coast four years ago.</p>.<p>It was also Sharath's 10th medal in the Games history and he is set to add more with singles and doubles events to follow. </p>
<p>Harmeet Desai raised his game in the decisive singles as the Indian men's table tennis team retained its Commonwealth Games gold medal after a close fight against Singapore here on Tuesday.</p>.<p>World no. 121 Harmeet outsmarted 133rd-ranked Zhe Yu Clarence Chew 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 in the third singles to ensure India's third gold men's team medal in CWG history.</p>.<p>The gold was India's seventh since the sport's inception in Manchester 2002.</p>.<p>India were expected to beat Singapore but Clarence accounted for veteran Sharath Kamal in the first singles to level the match at 1-1.</p>.<p>Harmeet and Sathiyan had little difficulty in getting past Yong Izaak Que and Ye En Koen Pang in the opening doubles.</p>.<p>Sathiyan had given India a 2-1 lead with a 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 victory over lower-ranked Pang.</p>.<p>The stand-out performance came from India's third player, Harmeet.</p>.<p>Sharath had struggled to contain Clarence but Harmeet went on the offensive against the left-hander and ensured that he did not get room to go for his powerful forehand winners. Harmeet's backhand was also on fire as he won majority of the long rallies.</p>.<p>In the first singles, Sharath went down 7-11, 14-12, 3-11,9-11 against Clarence. Whenever, the Indian placed the ball deep on Clarence's forehand, the return was a winner.</p>.<p>Two net chords helped Sharath in the second game but Clarence comfortably won the next two.</p>.<p>India had beaten a stronger opponent in Nigeria on Monday with Sharath stunning world number 15 Aruna Quadri. But his loss against a much lower ranked opponent on Tuesday showed rankings did not matter much in a multi sporting event.</p>.<p>India had won the team gold for the first in Melbourne 2006 before repeating the feat in Gold Coast four years ago.</p>.<p>It was also Sharath's 10th medal in the Games history and he is set to add more with singles and doubles events to follow. </p>