Ayhika Mukherjee saved India’s blushes after she came from behind to help the women’s team beat South Korea 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
With this win, the Indian women’s team confirmed its first-ever medal at the Asian championships hosted by the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU). In the editions hosted by the now defunct Table Tennis Federation of Asia, the women had clinched bronze in 1960.
It will face Japan in the semifinals scheduled to take place on Wednesday. The Japanese beat Singapore 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
India was handed a 2-0 lead in the tie after Ayhika and Manika Batra recorded closely-contest wins in their respective matches. While the Bengal paddler beat Shin Yubi 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, the Delhi-born player got the better of Jeon Jihee 12-14, 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10.
However, Korea fought back to balance the scoreline. Sreeja Akula, playing only her second competitive tournament after returning from an injury, was bested 0-3 by Lee Eunhye.
Yubin then beat Manika 3-2 in a close match, which saw the Indian fight back to recover from a two-game deficit but fall short in the end.
Ayhika rescued India in this tie after winning three consecutive games against Jihee in the final match.
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