The Asian Desk Tennis Championships being held in Astana, Kazakhstan had been seen as a daring expedition for Indian girls, after they launched into the journey. And as has been the latest pattern, the Indians continued punching properly above their weight.
On the Paris Olympics in July, the crew had made inroads, and eventually on the Asian Championships, there was a medal to boast. With their 3-2 quarterfinal win over second seeds and Olympic bronze medallists Korea, India confirmed a medal on the match, regarded at par with the Olympics because it has all of the powerhouses of desk tennis.
Seeded sixth, they had been underdogs towards World No. 3 Korea which had the likes of 20-year-old World No. 8 Shin Yubin and World No. 16 Jeon Hijee. However the Koreans didn’t know what struck them.
Ayhika Mukherjee was the star successful the opener and decider, and Manika Batra pulled her weight placing India 2-0 forward, each beating larger ranked opponents.
The Koreans are proper up there, among the many finest on the earth. First up was Ayhika towards Yubin. At World No. 92, 84 locations under Yubin, Ayhika shouldn’t have stood an opportunity however as one of many only a few individuals who have overwhelmed Yingsha this yr, Ayhika would’ve instructed herself that she might stir a storm.
The scores had been degree at 1-1 after two video games with Ayhika trailing 2-8 within the third. At this level, a participant would usually attempt to take dangers. Not Ayhika. Her calmness underneath stress was the distinction. She caught to her recreation plan. She relentlessly defended Shin’s forehand assaults with backhand slices. She solely attacked when the chance arose. Along with her anti-spin rubber, she performed her pictures near the web which drew Shin into enjoying it lengthy. When she acquired a whiff of a return that means even a excessive excessive or unfastened, she took the chance to show and unleash her forehand topspin.
On the Paris Olympics in July, the crew had made inroads, and eventually on the Asian Championships, there was a medal to boast. (Ayhika Mukherjee instagram)
Manika then did what Manika does. Towards the skilled left-handed Jihee, who received the WTT Doha Contender earlier this yr, Manika matched her livid assault with a forehand assault herself. After which there was additionally her trademark twiddle that Jihee didn’t have a solution to.
India’s 2-0 lead within the tie quickly vanished with Sreeja Akula, getting back from a 6-week damage layoff, dropping the following match to Lee Eunhye in straight video games and Manika, in her return rubber, taking Yubin the space however dropping the fifth recreation.
It was then as much as Ayhika to provide India the win of a lifetime and the 27-year-old, who misplaced her place within the Indian crew on the Olympics to Archana Kamath, confirmed why she will be counted on in big-match conditions. With nerves of metal, she fought again from a recreation right down to beat Jihee 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 12-10 to provide India the match and the tie.
Kamlesh Mehta, eight-time nationwide champion and present secretary of the Desk Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), instructed The Indian Specific from Astana that this Indian girls’s crew now not rallied round one celebrity.
“What at all times occurred was we had one star participant and others can be depending on her. For the longest time, it was Manika. However now, we have now three-four gamers who’re doing very properly on the worldwide degree. We’ve 5 girls within the World high 100 whereas earlier we had just one. I nonetheless really feel it was the win over the Chinese language gamers which was the booster shot for Indian TT the place the ladies confirmed that they will beat the perfect on the earth,” he stated.
Seeds sown
The seeds of India turning into a powerhouse in girls’s desk tennis had been sown on the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Video games. It grew to become a sapling by the point the Asian Video games in 2023, and on the World TT Championships in Busan in February this yr, it confirmed seen indicators of bearing fruit.
When Manika Batra along with her unorthodox pimpled rubber on her backhand first received gold in singles after which led the crew to victory on the 2018 CWG, it was dismissed as a one-off. The TT world thought the rubber would quickly be discovered.
When the Mukherjee duo of Ayhika and Sutirtha received an unprecedented bronze in girls’s doubles on the Tokyo Asiad, the TT world was pressured to take discover. India had by no means medalled in TT on the Asian Video games earlier than.
Nothing, nevertheless, shook the TT world like when Ayhika and Sreeja Akula (who like Manika, performs with lengthy pips) shocked the highest Chinese language gamers – World No. 1 Solar Yingsha after which World No. 2 Wang Yidi respectively of their crew tie on the ITTF World Group TT Championships in Busan. Although China fought again to finally win that tie, the Indian girls had been by no means going to be taken frivolously. The Chinese language even wanted a two-week camp on play towards lengthy pimples.
At Paris, they continued the effective run by reaching quarterfinals. Manika and Sreeja too had created historical past by reaching the Rd of 16 within the singles occasion too. At Astana, a bronze was sealed.
Subsequent up – Japan
Being among the many top-4 in Asia was the primary hurdle that India solely simply handed, however to grow to be an Asian powerhouse – their final objective– they should repeatedly beat the perfect of Asia. Within the semifinal, they face World No. 2 Japan who’ve two gamers within the top-10 and the third is twelfth.
They received’t be taking India simple although.