Asian Games: Chitale, Manush assure TT medal

Diya Chitale and Manush Shah (Image credit: X)

NEW DELHI: India's Manush Shah and Diya Chitale secured a medal in the mixed doubles event at the Asian Games after pulling off a big win over Hong Kong's Wong Chun-Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in the quarterfinals on Friday.The Indian pair beat the world No. 4 combination 3-1 (11-6, 13-15, 11-9, 11-5) to enter the semifinals and assure India of a table tennis medal.

Manush and Diya will now face China's world No. 2 pair Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semifinals later on Friday. A win would take the Indians into the final of an Asian Games table tennis event for the first time.The medal is India's second in mixed doubles at the Asian Games. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra had won bronze in Jakarta in 2018.

It is also only India's fourth table tennis medal in the history of the Asian Games.

Strong finish seals the win

Manush and Diya made an excellent start, taking the opening game 11-6. The Hong Kong pair fought back in the second game, but the Indians stayed in the contest before narrowly losing it 13-15.

With the match level at 1-1, the Indian duo raised their game and took the third game 11-9. That put them just one game away from a guaranteed medal.They completed the job in style, racing to an 11-5 win in the fourth game to seal their place in the last four.

India's fourth table tennis medal

India have now won four table tennis medals at the Asian Games, with all four being bronze.Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra won the mixed doubles bronze at Jakarta 2018. The men's team also claimed bronze at the same Games, with Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan and Manav Thakkar part of that squad.At Hangzhou 2023, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee added another bronze in women's doubles.