India stunned the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medallists South Korea 3-2 to enter the women’s team semi-finals at the 2024 Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Ayhikha Mukherjee starred with two wins as she beat world No 8 Shin Yubin and world No 16 Jeon Jihee in the first and last match of the tie respectively.
In a thrilling encounter, Mukherjee overcame Shin's fightbacks twice to secure a 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 victory.
Left out of the Tokyo Olympics in favor of Archana Kamath, Mukherjee had claimed the Asian Games doubles bronze.
She was fielded to play the opening singles match against second-seeded Korea and faced Shin, a 20-year-old prodigy who reached the semifinals of the Paris Olympics in what turned out to be a gripping contest.
India took an early 2-0 lead in their tie, with Manika Batra also winning a hard-fought contest 12-14, 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10 against Jeon Jihee.
However, Korea rallied to mount a comeback. Sreeja Akula competing in her second competition following an injury layoff was defeated 0-3 by Lee Eunhye.
Shin then exacted revenge by defeating Manika in a close 3-2 match in which the Indian rallied from two games down but finally fell short.
Mukherjee eventually rescued India in the tie by winning three consecutive games against Jihee in the final match after being a game down.
The Indian women's team will face Japan in the semifinals on Wednesday, following Japan’s 3-0 win over Singapore in the quarterfinals.
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