India Bags Three Medals at Asian Table Tennis Championships
India concluded their campaign at the Asian Table Tennis Championships with a historic haul of three medals, including a bronze in the women’s doubles. The bronze medalists, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee, had previously stunned the reigning world champions from China at the Asian Games last year. However, in the semifinals, they faced a tough challenge from Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara, losing 4-11, 9-11, 8-11.
Prior to their semifinal loss, the Indian duo had defeated South Korea’s Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye in the quarterfinals, securing India’s first-ever women’s doubles medal at the Asian meet.
The Indian women’s team had earlier made history by winning a bronze medal in the team event. The trio of Manika Batra, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Sutirtha Mukherjee secured the country’s first-ever medal in the women’s team category since the competition began in 1972. However, they eventually lost 1-3 to Japan in the semifinals.
In the men’s category, India secured another bronze, their third straight in the tournament, after the team of Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar, and Harmeet Desai fell 0-3 to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
In men’s singles, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals. World No. 60 Thakkar, who had earlier shocked world No. 14 Jang Woojin of South Korea, was defeated by Hong Kong’s Baldwin Chan, 4-11 4-11 8-11. Meanwhile, Manush put up a tough fight against Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei and took two games before narrowly losing 8-11 5-11 11-7 11-6 12-14.
