Asian Table Tennis Championships: Ayhika-Sutirtha Create History, Seal India's First-Ever Women's Doubles Medal

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Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee created history as the pair secured the first-ever women's doubles medal for at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan on Saturday (October 12).

The Mukherjees, who had beaten the world champions from China on way to a historic bronze at Asian Games last year, bounced back to beat South Korean pair of Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 in the quarterfinals.

Assureed of a bronze, the world number 15 pair from India will face Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kishara in the semifinals on Sunday (October 13), when they get a chance to upgrade their medal colour. The final is also scheduled for Sunday.

Ayhika plays with an anti-spin rubber that helps her slow down the game for Sutirtha, who uses a short pimpled rubber, to attack on the following return.

In the men's singles, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah exceeded expectations to reach the pre-quarterfinals. But the Indian paddlers fell in the pre-quarterfinal round.

Manav, ranked 60th, had recorded one of the biggest wins of his career by upsetting world number 14 Jang Woojin from South Korea 5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7 in the round of 32. Thakkar, however, lost to Hong Kong's Baldwin Chan 4-11, 4-11, 8-11 in the round of 16

World number 115 Manush had made short work of 23-ranked An Jaehyun from South Korea 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 in a head turning performance. Manush, however, went down fighting in the round of 16 against Chinese Taipei's Lin Junyu.

Harmeet Desai's singles campaign ended in the round of 32 with a straight game loss to 30th ranked Lim Jonghoon in the round of 32. Veteran Sharath Kamal, India's highest ranked player at 42, had suffered a shock defeat against 506th ranked Mohammed Alqassab on Friday evening.

G Sathiyan went down against North Korean Ham Yu Song, who doesn't feature in the ITTF rankings. Manika Batra is scheduled to face Japan's Miwa Harimoto in a round of 16 clash on Saturday.

Earlier, in the semifinals of the men's team category, India lost to Chinese Taipei by 0-3. As a part of this competition, both losing semifinal teams are given a bronze medal.

The Indian men's table tennis team confirmed the bronze medal for the country in the quarterfinals on Wednesday (October 9), where they overcame Kazakhstan's trio of Kirill Gerassimenko, Alan Kurmangaliyev, and Aidos Kenzhigulov with a convincing 3-1 victory.

Meanwhile, the Indian women's team made history by winning a bronze medal, the country's first-ever in the women's team category at the Asian Table Tennis Championships since its inception in 1972.

In the semifinals, India suffered a 1-3 defeat to Japan, while Hong Kong defeated China 3-0 in the other semifinal. India had confirmed its bronze medal with a thrilling 3-2 victory over South Korea in the quarterfinals on Tuesday (October 8).