The Indian women's team have put in a sensational performance at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024 to win their quarterfinal match. The trio of Manika Batra, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Sreeja Akula defeated their South Korean opponents in a nerve-wrecking encounter to make it to the top four.
India showed immense grit under high pressure to clinch the quartetfinal 3-2. Ahyika, in particular, was exceptional right through the tie and gave India the early momentum. She defeated Yubin Shin 11-9 in the opening game.
Though Mukherjee lost the second game, she made a great comeback to win the third 12-0. She lost the fourth game but rose to the occasion to win the fifth game 11-7 to give India a 1-0 lead.
Manika Batra was up next as she went up against Jeon Jihee but started off with a closely fought defeat. She came back strong to take both the second and third game. Though she lost the fourth, much like Ahyika, Manika showed immense mental strength to close out the fifth game to bring India to a 2-0 lead.
South Korea applies pressure but India holds their nerves to prevail with a triumph at the Asian Table Tennis Championships
South Korea was in no mood to be decimated by India in the all important Asian Table Tennis Championships tie. Eunhye Lee made a stunning return to whitewash Sreeja Akula 3-0 to bring India's lead down to 2-1.
India continued to be on the backfoot as Manika Batra then went down in both her first two games to Yubin Shin. Though she won both the third and fourth match, Batra went down in the final match which tied the quarterfinal at 2-2.
Just as India was under immense threat of losing the match, Ahyika Mukherjee once again came to the rescue. Mukherjee faced Jihee Jeon in the all important final tie. Though she lost the first game she came back well to win the second game.
The Indian star then went on a roll to win both the next two games 12-10 to give India an incredible 3-2 win. With the win, India has now confirmed themselves a historic medal by making it into the semifinal of the Asian Table Tennis Championships.