How Ayhika, Manika, Sreeja have taken Indian women’s Table Tennis into the next orbit, with the upset win over Korea

Seeded sixth, they were underdogs against World No. 3 Korea which had the likes of 20-year-old World No. 8 Shin Yubin and World No. 16 Jeon Hijee. But the Koreans didn’t cognize what struck them.

Ayhika Mukherjee was the prima winning the opener and decider, and Manika Batra pulled her value putting India 2-0 ahead, some beating higher ranked opponents.

The Koreans are close up there, among the champion successful the world. First up was Ayhika against Yubin. At World No. 92, 84 places beneath Yubin, Ayhika shouldn’t person stood a accidental but arsenic 1 of the precise fewer radical who person beaten Yingsha this year, Ayhika would’ve told herself that she could disturbance a storm.

The scores were level astatine 1-1 aft 2 games with Ayhika trailing 2-8 successful the third. At this point, a subordinate would usually effort to instrumentality risks. Not Ayhika. Her calmness nether unit was the difference. She stuck to her crippled plan. She relentlessly defended Shin’s forehand attacks with backhand slices. She lone attacked erstwhile the accidental arose. With her anti-spin rubber, she played her shots adjacent to the nett which drew Shin into playing it long. When she got a whiff of a instrumentality that mode adjacent a precocious high oregon loose, she took the accidental to crook and unleash her forehand topspin.

At the Paris Olympics successful July, the squad had made inroads, and yet astatine the Asian Championships, determination was a medal to boast. (Ayhika Mukherjee instagram)

Manika past did what Manika does. Against the experienced left-handed Jihee, who won the WTT Doha Contender earlier this year, Manika matched her furious onslaught with a forehand onslaught herself. And past determination was besides her trademark twiddle that Jihee didn’t person an reply to.

India’s 2-0 pb successful the necktie soon vanished with Sreeja Akula, coming backmost from a 6-week wounded layoff, losing the adjacent lucifer to Lee Eunhye successful consecutive games and Manika, successful her instrumentality rubber, taking Yubin the region but losing the 5th game.

It was past up to Ayhika to springiness India the triumph of a beingness and the 27-year-old, who mislaid her spot successful the Indian squad astatine the Olympics to Archana Kamath, showed wherefore she tin beryllium counted connected successful big-match situations. With nerves of steel, she fought backmost from a crippled down to bushed Jihee 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 12-10 to springiness India the lucifer and the tie.

Kamlesh Mehta, eight-time nationalist champion and existent caput of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), told The Indian Express from Astana that this Indian women’s squad nary longer rallied astir 1 superstar.

“What ever happened was we had 1 prima subordinate and others would beryllium babelike connected her. For the longest time, it was Manika. But now, we person three-four players who are doing precise good astatine the planetary level. We person 5 women successful the World apical 100 portion earlier we had lone one. I inactive consciousness it was the triumph implicit the Chinese players which was the booster changeable for Indian TT wherever the girls showed that they tin bushed the champion successful the world,” helium said.

Seeds sown

The seeds of India becoming a powerhouse successful women’s array tennis were sown astatine the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. It became a sapling by the clip the Asian Games successful 2023, and astatine the World TT Championships successful Busan successful February this year, it showed disposable signs of bearing fruit.

When Manika Batra with her unorthodox pimpled rubber connected her backhand archetypal won golden successful singles and past led the squad to triumph astatine the 2018 CWG, it was dismissed arsenic a one-off. The TT satellite thought the rubber would soon beryllium figured out.

When the Mukherjee duo of Ayhika and Sutirtha won an unprecedented bronze successful women’s doubles astatine the Tokyo Asiad, the TT satellite was forced to instrumentality notice. India had ne'er medalled successful TT astatine the Asian Games before.

Nothing, however, shook the TT satellite similar erstwhile Ayhika and Sreeja Akula (who similar Manika, plays with agelong pips) stunned the apical Chinese players – World No. 1 Sun Yingsha and past World No. 2 Wang Yidi respectively successful their squad necktie astatine the ITTF World Team TT Championships successful Busan. Though China fought backmost to yet triumph that tie, the Indian women were ne'er going to beryllium taken lightly. The Chinese adjacent needed a two-week campy connected however to play against agelong pimples.

At Paris, they continued the good tally by reaching quarterfinals. Manika and Sreeja excessively had created past by reaching the Rd of 16 successful the singles lawsuit too. At Astana, a bronze was sealed.

Next up – Japan

Being among the top-4 successful Asia was the archetypal hurdle that India lone conscionable passed, but to go an Asian powerhouse – their eventual goal– they person to regularly bushed the champion of Asia. In the semifinal, they look World No. 2 Japan who person 2 players successful the top-10 and the 3rd is 12th.

They won’t beryllium taking India casual though.