World Table Tennis Team C'ships: Ayhika Mukherjee beats world No 1 Sun Yingsha, Sreeja Akula defeats No 2 Wang Yidi

Indian paddlers Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula stunned the world’s top two players, Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi, but it wasn’t enough as the side went down 2-3 to defending champions China at the World Table Tennis Team Championships on Friday. Starting the proceedings for India, Ayhika, ranked 155, punched way above her weight to pull off a brilliant 12-10 2-11 13-11 11-6 win against world number one Yingsha to give her team a 1-0 lead.

What an unbelievable morning! #India vs #China at the #TableTennis #WorldChampionships and it’s a score we have been waiting to see for sooo many years!!🇮🇳

Indian Women are leading 2-1 💪🏾

Both Ayhika Mukherjee & @SreejaAkula31 take 2 matches and now it’s Upto @manikabatra_TT pic.twitter.com/duaFIDaGVm

— Neha Aggarwal Sharma OLY (@nehaaggarwal) February 16, 2024

Commonwealth Games medallist Sreeja pulled off a dominating win over Yidi. The Indian won 3-0 (11-7 11-9 13-11). India’s top-ranked player Manika Batra disappointed losing both her matches to world number four Wang Manyu (3-11 8-11 15-13 7-11) and Yingsha (3-11 6-11 13-11 9-11). With the tie locked at 2-2, the 26-year-old Ayhika was unable to recreate the magic of her opening match and went down in straight games to Manyu 9-11 11-13 6-11.