Yashaswini turned it around: Harmeet on medal that ended India’s mixed doubles TT drought

Men’s team, women’s team, men’s doubles, women’s doubles — India had earned medals in all these categories at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in the last five years. A mixed doubles podium had eluded the nation since 1954.

On Friday, Syndrela Das-Payas Jain lost in the quarterfinals; Yashaswini Ghorpade-Harmeet Desai were four points away from defeat against South Korea’s Ganghyeon Park and Daeun Lee. It looked like the barren streak would stretch another edition.

That is when Yashaswini stepped up, however. “Down two games and trailing 1-7 in Game 4, I could see the match slipping away. But Yashaswini turned it around,” Harmeet tells The Indian Express. “Her receive of serves became more aggressive. She took her chances. As a result, we got many quick points.”

Harmeet was playing in an aggressive vein from the start. Yashaswini’s change in tack increased his confidence too. “We complemented each other. The receiving made the difference,” the 33-year-old explained.

The duo salvaged the set and brought the match back on level terms at 2-2. The Korean pair succumbed to pressure in the decider. India was guaranteed its first mixed doubles medal at the tournament in 72 years.

Yashaswini-Harmeet edged out Park-Lee 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 in 42 minutes. “It’s a really big win for us. Beating such a good pair from Korea, which is really strong in mixed doubles, is massive,” Harmeet says.

Though the senior pro realises the medal’s significance, he was not aware of the 72-year podium-less streak going into the match. Nor was his partner. They were “just playing the match”.

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They began superbly. “We dominated the first game and thought there was a good chance to beat the Korean pair. But then we missed a couple of crucial points in the second and third sets to cede the advantage,” Harmeet said.

Yashaswini came up clutch from there, and Harmeet’s practice of blocking and counter-attacking came in handy. “In men’s doubles, it is a different story as our strategy is to start with attack. But here in mixed doubles, defence is key.”

Harmeet elaborates on the technical aspect: “Yashaswini has long pimples (racquet rubber), so I need to respond to attacks from opponents and then counter-attack. I had to improve my blocking, which wasn’t that good till a couple of years ago. I used to play close to the table, but have moved to mid-distance now.”

The strategy rewarded him with a new medal in the cabinet. Harmeet had already won medals in men’s team and men’s doubles at the Asian Championships. Mixed doubles was missing. “I am really happy that I could win a medal at this stage of my career. I hope to build on this in the lead-up to the Olympics.”

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The campaign ended with a loss, however, as Yashaswini-Harmeet went down 9-11, 9-11, 8-11 to Japan’s world No.9 pairing of Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima to finish with bronze. “We tried to go in with full confidence against the Japanese. We didn’t get much time after the quarterfinal to prepare, to look at our opponents and strategise accordingly,” Harmeet said.

“They are one of the best players in the world. In the second set we were leading 9-8 (against them), and the scenario could have been different had we taken that set. It is important to get first or second set against such a strong pair.”

Nevertheless, Harmeet is happy with their showing. “We put up a very good show against formidable pair. We have learnt a lot. It gave us the confidence that we can beat top players.”

The medal follows Diya Chitale and Manush Shah’s bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Harmeet hopes the back-to-back podiums in mixed doubles raises the sport’s profile in the country. “(Hopefully) perspective of people will change as Indian TT is getting medals regularly now. We have been getting medals consistently at the Asian level in the last 5-6 years. We need to better the colour of medals, yes. But we have been putting our best foot forward in showing the world that we are there now.”