Asian TT C'ships: Indian women's team win historic bronze, men move to semis

The Indian women's team lost to Japan in the semifinals but finished the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan on an all-time high, winning a historic bronze medal on Wednesday.

Playing in the semifinals for the first time since the Asian TT Championships started in 1972, India won the bronze medal after they went down to Japan 3-1. It was India's first-ever medal at the event.

Japan will face China, who defeated Hong Kong 3-0 in the other semifinal, in the final. Both losing teams in the semifinals are bestowed with the bronze medals at the Asian Championships.

Playing the first match of the tie, World No. 92 Ayhika lost to World No. 7 Miwa Harimoto 2-3 (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11, 7-11) in a closely fought clash.

Manika Batra brought India back in the match by beating Satsuki Odo 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-8).

In the third match of the tie, Sutirtha Mukherjee put up a brave fight but lost 0-3 against Mima Ito (9-11, 4-11, 13-15).

With India trailing 1-2 in the tie, Manika stepped in to play Harimoto but could not deliver the desired result.

Manika lost to Harimoto 3-11, 11-6, 2-11, 3-11 in 27 minutes as India suffered a 1-3 defeat.

Earlier, India knocked second-seeded Korea out of the tournament with a nail-biting 3-2 win to conform their maiden medal from the tournament.

Ayhika Mukherjee was the star of the evening on Tuesday. She remained unbeaten and won two matches to deliver the results for India.

In the mixed doubles Round of 32, Manush Shah-Diya Chitale lost a tight five-game match to the Chinese Taipei pair whereas Manav Thakkar-Manika Batra progressed to the round of 16 with a win over the Uzbek pair.

Indian men's team through to semis

The Indian men's team advanced to the semifinals as they defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 in the quarterfinals, with Manav Thakkar, Sharath Kamal, and Harmeet Desai winning their matches.

Manav gave India a blitzkrieg start by defeating Kirill Gerassimenko 11-9, 11-7, 11-6.

Harmeet, however, went down in his first match against 17-year-old Alan Kurmangaliyev. Harmeet fought back strongly in his second match, beating Kirill Gerassimenko 3-1 and sealed victory for Team India after Sharath Kamal won his match.

With this win, the Indian men's team has confirmed their medal in the men's team event, their third one on the trot, having won bronze in the previous two editions.

They will face Chinese Taipei in the semifinals tomorrow.