The Indian women's team of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, Suthirtha Mukherjee and Diya Chitale made history by winning India's first-ever medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan after winning bronze following their loss to Japan in the semifinal. India's previous best performance at the biennial event in the 27 editions so far was to reach the quarterfinal.
The Asian Championships are often considered a tougher contest than the Olympics, especially in singles, where top Asian teams can send five players as opposed to two in Paris. It also plays out in the team events, since there is a stronger pool of singles players to choose from, as opposed to doubles specialists.
India's best had been on a giant killing spree in Astana, and very nearly pulled off an upset against Japan, despite the 3-1 scoreline. Ayhika Mukherjee (WR 92), who only made her way back into the team following Archana Kamath's retirement from the sport, performed impressively against 16-year-old Japanese phenom Miwa Harimoto, ranked 7th in the world. Down 1-2 in the contest, Ayhika displayed her nerves to take the fourth game 13-11, and even led 7-4 in the decider, ready to produce another stunning result, following her victory over Korean world no. 8, Shin Yubin in the quarterfinal.
However, Miwa then rattled off winner after winner to take the fifth game 11-7, giving Japan a 1-0 lead in the tie.
Manika Batra, ranked 29th in the world, was up next against Satsuki Odo, ranked 12 spots above her in the ITTF rankings. However, the Indian made a mockery of their rankings, absolutely demolishing her opponent in a straight games victory (11-6, 11-5, 11-8). India were thus back in the tie at 1-1 following Manika's stellar display.
The third fixture in the contest was also a lopsided one, but in keeping with the rankings, world no. 89 Sutirtha Mukherjee having no answer against world no. 9 Mima Ito, losing 9-11, 4-11, 13-15.
It was up to Manika to keep India in the tie and she faced up to teen sensation Miwa Harimoto. The 16-year-old was in no mood to offer her opponent any advantage, racing to a 11-3 victory in the first game. However, Manika raised hopes of a comeback, just like Ayhika, taking the second game 11-6. However, this only served to inspire Harimoto, who went on a spree of winners with Manika able to earn only 5 points from the next 27, as the Japanese star closed out the tie with a 11-3, 6-11, 11-2, 11-3 victory, thus eliminating India in the semifinal.
HISTORIC ��
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
- SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 8, 2024
However, the loss did not dim the Indian women's team achievement - as they made history with a historic bronze. In keeping with coach Massimo Constantini's target for a medal at the LA Olympics, India produced a performance that shows it is a realistic prospect.
Indeed, India beat Paris Olympics bronze medallists South Korea 3-2 in the quarterfinal, underlining their prowess. Ayhika and Manika were key in that victory, despite Sreeja Akula's loss to a lower-ranked opponent. Ayhika defeated WR 8 Shin Yubin and WR 16 Jeon Jihee, with the latter also losing to Manika.
The bronze medal is just reward for a group that stayed back to train in China after the most recent WTT Smash event there, spending extra time and effort after their exits from the Smash event, with a view to training for the Asian Championships.
Despite question marks over the future prospect of the sport following Archana Kamath's retirement at the age of 24, the success of an emerging player pool ready to share the responsibility with Manika Batra only bodes well for the future. A medal at the Asian Championships has cracked the glass ceiling, and perhaps the day when India breaks said ceiling with an Olympic medal is not too far away.