Asian Table Tennis Championships: Ayhika, Sutirtha clinch bronze after losing semi-final clash

India wrapped up their campaign at the Asian Table Tennis Championships with three medals, including a historic bronze in the women’s doubles, after Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee’s dream run ended in the semifinals in Astana on Sunday.

The world No. 15 pair, who stunned the reigning world champions from China en route to a bronze at the Asian Games last year, fell to Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara, 4-11, 9-11, 9-11 in under 30 minutes in their last-four clash.

Prior to that, the Indian duo had defeated South Korea’s Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye in the quarterfinals to secure India’s first-ever women’s doubles medal at the Asian meet. The Indian women’s team had earlier clinched a historic bronze in the team event.

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The trio of Manika Batra, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Sutirtha Mukherjee secured the country’s first-ever medal in the women’s team category since the competition began in 1972, though they eventually lost 1-3 to Japan in the semifinals.

In the men’s category, India secured another bronze, their third straight in the tournament, after the team of Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar, and Harmeet Desai fell 0-3 to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.

In men’s singles, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals. World No. 60 Thakkar, who had earlier shocked world No. 14 Jang Woojin of South Korea, was defeated by Hong Kong’s Baldwin Chan, 4-11, 4-11, 8-11.

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Meanwhile, Manush put up a tough fight against Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei and took two games before narrowly losing 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 12-14.