Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024: Indian women’s team wins historic bronze medal
India won their first medal in the women’s team event since the bronze at the 1960 edition in Bombay. The Indian men’s team has also been assured of a medal.
Table Tennis
The Indian women’s team settled for a historic bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024 after losing its semi-final clash against Japan with a 3-1 scoreline in Astana, Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
This was India’s first medal in the women’s team event at the Asian Table Tennis Championships since the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) started organising the competition in 1972.
Previously, the championships were organised by the Table Tennis Federation of Asia (TTFA), under which the Indian women’s team won a bronze medal in 1960 in Bombay (now Mumbai).
Overall, this was India’s sixth medal at the continental table tennis meet, with all six being bronze.
Both losing semi-finalists get bronze medals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships.
World No. 92 Ayhika Mukherjee started the proceedings for India against the Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallists Japan. However, the Indian table tennis player fell short against 16-year-old sensation Miwa Harimoto, ranked No. 7. Mukherjee lost a nail-biting match with a score of 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7).
In the second match, world No. 29 Manika Batra delivered a strong performance, defeating 20-year-old world No. 17 Satsuki Odo decisively with a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-8) margin.
However, world No. 89 Sutirtha Mukherjee, who stepped in for India’s top-ranked Sreeja Akula, could not maintain the momentum. She was defeated by world No. 9 Mima Ito 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 15-13).
Manika Batra faced Miwa Harimoto in the do-or-die contest but succumbed to a 3-1 (11-3, 6-11, 11-2, 11-3) loss.
In the quarter-finals on Tuesday, India stunned the Republic of Korea, the Paris 2024 bronze medallists, with a 3-2 victory. Ayhika Mukherjee starred in India’s wins with wins over world No. 8 Shin Yu-bin and 16th-ranked Jeon Ji-hee. Manika Batra also beat Jeon in a reverse fixture.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team also assured itself of a medal after qualifying for the semi-finals with a 3-1 win over hosts Kazakhstan.
World No. 60 Manav Thakkar beat 41st-ranked Kirill Gerassimenko 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-7) in the opening game.
Alan Kurmangaliyev, ranked 183rd, stunned world No. 91 Harmeet Desai with a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-8) scoreline to help Kazakhstan draw level.
Five-time Olympian Sharath Kamal dominated world No. 282 Aidos Kenzhigulov 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 12-10) before Desai pulled off a 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8) win over Gerassimenko.
India will next take on either Hong Kong China or Chinese Taipei in the Asian Table Tennis Championships semi-finals on Thursday.