Asian TT C'ships: Sutirtha-Ayhika reach semis, confirm historic medal

The top Indian women's doubles pairing of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee reached the semifinals of the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Saturday.

The World No. 15 Indian duo defeated Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye of Korea 3-1 (10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8) in the quarterfinals to confirm India's first-ever medal in women's doubles in the tournament's 52 years history.

Sutirtha and Ayhika, who became the first Indian pair ever to win an Asian Games medal last year in China, recovered from an opening game loss to beat the Korean pair, with Sutirtha and Ayhika combining perfectly with their defensive offence approach.

Their combination of attack and defence helped them prevail over Kim and Lee.

Sutirtha and Ayhika will aim for a brighter title when they face off against World No. 33 Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara in the semifinals on Sunday.

However, it was curtains for other Indian medal prospects.

Manika Batra, the World No. 29, went down to World No. 7 Harimoto 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11 in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals.

In the men's singles segment, World No. 115 Manush Shah thrashed World No. 46 An Jaehyun of Korea 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Manav Thakkar, on the other hand, stunned World No. 14 Jang Woojin 5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7 in his Round of 32 clash.

However, in the Round of 16 clashes, both Manush and Manav suffered defeats.

While Manush put up a brave fight against Lin Yun-Ju to lose (12-14, 11-6, 11-7, 5-11, 5-11), Manav suffered a straight-game defeat (4-11, 4-11, 8-11) to Chan Baldwin.

Harmeet Desai succumbed to Lim Jonghoon 12-14, 7-11, 7-11 in the Round of 32.