Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee guaranteed themselves a medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, after reaching the women’s doubles semifinals on Saturday.
The Indian pair of Ayhika and Sutirtha, who created history by grabbing a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, defeated South Korea’s Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8) in the quarterfinals.
It will be the first all-Indian women’s doubles pair to stand on the podium at the Asian Championships. Gool Nasikwala had won a gold medal in women’s doubles, partnering Japan’s Yoshiko Tanaka, when the erstwhile Table Tennis Federation of Asia had conducted the event for the first time in 1952 in Singapore.
Ayhika-Sutirtha duo, World No. 15, will face Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara in the semifinals on Sunday.
In men’s singles, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar shocked higher-ranked South Korean opponents to reach the round of 16.
World No. 115 Shah defeated World No. 23 and former world championships bronze medallist An Jaehyun 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-6). On the other hand, World No. 60 Thakkar won 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7) against World No. 14 and Asian Games bronze medallist Jang Woojin.
Shah will face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju while Thakkar will be up against Hong Kong’s Chan Baldwin in the round of 16 later in the day.
However, Harmeet Desai went down 0-3 (12-14, 7-11, 7-11) down to South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon, World No. 30, in his round of 32 match.
In women’s singles, Manika Batra is the only Indian left in the competition. She will be up against Harimoto in the round of 16 later in the day.
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