Table Tennis
Saudi Smash: Ayhika-Sutirtha lose as Indian challenge ends in doubles
All Indian pairs across categories lost their respective games as the Indian challenge ended in Saudi Smash 2024.
Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee (Source: ITTF)
The Indian challenge in the doubles category ended at Saudi Smash as three Indian pairs across categories bowed out of the tournament on Tuesday.
In the women's doubles, Asian Games bronze medallists Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Miyu Nagasaki and Kim Nayeong in the round of 16 match.
The Indian pair lost to the Korean-Japanese pair in 43 minutes 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8).
In the men’s doubles event, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar went down 3-2 (18-20, 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7) against Lubomir Pistej and Chan Baldwin in the round of 16.
In the mixed doubles, Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade were defeated by the top-seeded Chinese pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the quarterfinal.
The Indian pair was no match to the world number one pair and lost 0-3 (6-11, 10-12, 4-11).
Harmeet and Yashaswini began their campaign with a 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5) win over Chile’s Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega before shocking 5th-seeded Spanish duo of Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7,11-7) in the round of 16.
India's only representation in the tournament is Manika Batra who will face Nina Mittelham of Germany in the round of 16. Earlier, Manika stunned world number Wang Manyu in her round of 32 match to progress ahead in the tournament.
