Astana: Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee created history as the duo confirmed India’s first-ever medal in the women’s doubles in the Asian Table Tennis Championship here on Saturday.
The Indian women’s doubles pair defeated Korea’s Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals and assure at least a bronze medal.
World No. 15 ranked Indian pair will now face Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kishara in the semifinals on Sunday. A win against the Japanese pair will see them playing for gold on the same day.
Earlier, the women’s team won the historic bronze on Wednesday after going down against Japan in the semifinals.
In the men’s singles, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah’s both crashed out of the pre-quarterfinals. Manav lost 0-3 against China’s Chan Baldwin whilst Manush Shah went down fighting 2-3 against World No. 11 Lin Yun-ju from Taiwan .
Ranked 60th, Manav secured one of the biggest victories of his career by upsetting world No. 14 Jang Woojin of South Korea 5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7 in the round of 32. Meanwhile, world No. 115 Manush delivered an impressive performance, defeating 23rd-ranked An Jaehyun from South Korea 11-9, 11-5, 11-6.
However, Harmeet Desai’s singles run ended in the round of 32 with a straight-set loss to 30th-ranked Lim Jonghoon. Veteran Sharath Kamal, India’s highest-ranked player at 42, suffered a surprising defeat to world No. 506 Mohammed Alqassab on Friday evening while G Sathiyan lost to North Korean Ham Yu Song, who is not listed in the ITTF rankings.
In the women’s singles, Manika Batra also crashed out after losing 1-3 to World No. 7 Japan’s Miwa Harimoto 1-3 in Pre-QF. Manika had lost to the same player in the Women’s Team event.
–IANS