Hyderabad: The Indian women’s team scripted history in the ongoing Asian Team Table Tennis Championships with a victory in the semi-final. By beating Olympic bronze medalist South Korea, they have assured themselves of their first-ever medal in the tournament.
The Indian team dished out a stellar performance to stun South Korea on Tuesday in the quarterfinal. World number 92 Ayhika Mukherjee was pivotal in India’s triumph as she defeated world number 8 Shin Yubin and world number 16 Jeon Jihee in the rubber. The Indian paddler punched above her weight and beat a couple of players who were placed in a much better position than her in the world rankings.
HISTORIC 🙌
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 8, 2024
Indian women's #TableTennis 🏓 team has stormed into the semifinals for the first time ever, defeating South Korea🇰🇷 3-2 and assuring a medal for India🇮🇳 at the #AsianChampionships 2024🥳.
Massive shoutout to our girls- Manika, Ayhika, and Sreeja for making it… pic.twitter.com/Fxer2Cywzw
The duo of Ayhika and Manika Batra helped India gain a 2-0 lead but South Koreans bounced back in the rubber and made the scoreline 2-2. However, the former held her nerve to eke out a win in the decider against Jihee.
The women’s team has been producing some impressive performances in recent times. The team had qualified for the team event for the first time in Olympic history. Ayhika was not part of the women’s team back then but Archana Kamath’s retirement from the sport brought her into the fray. The 27-year-old has made a reputation for slaying elite opponents including World number one Sun Yinghsa from China whom she beat at the World Team Championships earlier this year.
Ayhika started the rubber with an 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 win over World Number eight Shin Yuben. Manika then stretched the lead to 2-0 defeating Jeon Jihee by 12-14, 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10. Koreans then made their way back into the rubber as Lee Eunhye outplayed Sreeja Akula by 11-6, 12-10, 11-8. Yubin then made the scores level with a 13-11, 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 12-10 triumph over Manika. The tie was now levelled at 2-2 and Ayhika came with the winning punch as she defeated Jihee by 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 12-10.
