Asian Games 2026: Manush Shah-Diya Chitale settle for bronze in mixed doubles

 India's Manush Shah and Diya Chitale settled for a bronze medal in table tennis mixed doubles event after losing 0-4 to China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semifinals of the Asian Games, here on Friday.

The Indian pair went down 8-11 5-11 8-11 2-11 in under 30 minutes at Sky Hall Toyota.

Despite the semifinal defeat, Shah and Chitale secured India's first table tennis medal of the ongoing Games.

Earlier in the day, Shah and Chitale stunned world No. 4 Doo Hoi Kem and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 3-1 (11-6 13-15 11-9 11-5) in the quarterfinals to assure India's first table tennis medal of the Games.

It is India's second mixed doubles medal at the Asian Games after Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra won bronze in Jakarta eight years ago.

Shah also advanced in men's singles with a 4-0 win over Iran's Benyamin Faraji, while Yashaswini Ghorpade beat Syria's Hend Zaza 4-1 (11-5 11-5 11-8 8-11 11-4) to book her spot in the women's singles round of 16.

However, it was otherwise a disappointing day for the Indian paddlers.

Manav Thakkar bowed out in the round of 32 after a 2-4 (11-4 2-11 7-11 7-11 11-4 3-11) defeat to North Korea's U Tae Ryong, while Sreeja Akula also exited at the same stage, going down 1-4 (7-11 8-11 13-11 7-11 7-11) to Pyon Song Gyong.

Both Indian men's doubles pairs also exited in the round of 16 and round of 32 respectively.

Harmeet Desai and G Sathiyan, who had battled past Indonesia's Muhammad Negara and Affan Pratama 3-2 (11-4 11-7 7-11 8-11 11-6) in the round of 32, were beaten 0-3 (5-11, 9-11, 9-11) by Japan's Sora Matsushima and Shunsuke Togami.

Shah and Thakkar went down 1-3 (7-11 9-11 11-7 6-11) to Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto and Hiroto Shinnozuka in the round of 32.

Sreeja and Syndrela Das exited in the women's doubles pre-quarterfinals after a 0-3 (6-11 7-11 7-11) loss to China's world No. 2 pair Kuai Man and Wang Manyu.

Yashaswini and Chitale also bowed out at the same stage, losing 0-3 (7-11 5-11 8-11) to China's Fan Shuhan and Chen Yi.

Yashaswini's mixed doubles campaign also ended in the pre-quarterfinals, with she and Harmeet going down 0-3 (5-11 10-12 9-11) to China's Lin Shidong and Kuai Man.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)