Indian men defended their crown beating England while the women blanked Singapore for their maiden title at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships on Friday. England tried to change the script but the Indian men brought in a twist to the tale through birthday boy Harmeet Desai to end the English hopes to lift the Host Association's Cup. The men beat England 3-2 while Indian women did the impossible downing Singapore 3-0 to dethrone the defending champions Singapore who had a stranglehold on the trophy since 1997. The Indian men had won their first crown in Kuala Lumpur in 2004. Women: Final: India bt England 3-0 (Archana Girish Kamath bt Ho Tin-Tin 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9; Manika Batra bt Denise Payet 11-6, 11-4, 11-3; Madhurika Patkar bt Emily Bolton 11-9, 11-7, 11-6).

Source: dna July 19, 2019 14:26 UTC