Tashkent, Oct 23 Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade ensured India’s first mixed doubles medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in 72 years by reaching the semifinals here on Friday.
The Indian pair battled past South Korea’s Park Ganghyeon and Lee Daeun 3–2 (11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9) in a gripping quarterfinal to secure at least bronze.
After taking the opening game 11-6, the Indians lost the next two, leaving themselves under enormous pressure. However, the duo responded impressively, winning the fourth game 11-9 before holding their nerve to clinch the decider by the same margin.
The Indians next face Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima in the semifinals.
The five-game victory underlined the pair’s resilience and ability to recover when the match threatened to slip away. Harmeet and Yashaswini had progressed to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over Chinese Taipei and Indonesia (3-0) in the preceding round, after enjoying a first-round bye.
The achievement marks a significant moment for Indian table tennis. India’s previous mixed doubles medals at the Asian Championships came in 1952, when Gool Nasikwala and Kalyan Jayant won gold, and in 1954, when Yatin Vyas and Meena Parande secured silver.
(PTI News)
