Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra continued their splendid form in 2018 by becoming the first Indian pair in history to medal in the table tennis mixed doubles event at the Asian Games in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Sharath Kamal and Batra won bronze after losing 9-11, 5-11, 13-11, 4-11, 8-11 to China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semi-finals. They had reached the last four after defeating North Korea's An Ji Song and Cha Hyo Sim 4-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8 in the quarterfinals.
India had failed to medal in table tennis in the 14 previous editions of the Asian Games, when the sport was played. They won their first-ever medal in the sport at the Asian Games earlier this week when India won bronze in the men's team event after upsetting Japan in the quarterfinals. They then lost to South Korea in the semi-finals.
The two will next be in action in the men's and women's singles events on Thursday. Sharath Kamal is appearing in his fourth Asian Games, while Batra is making her second appearance at the continental Games.