Asian Games 2018: Sharath-Manika wins India’s first Table Tennis mixed doubles bronze

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra clinched India’s first ever Table Tennis doubles medal after losing 4-1 to China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semi-finals of the 18^th Asian Games on Wednesday.

Sharath and Manika went down 9-11, 5-11, 13-14-11, 8-11 in 39 minutes to settle for the bronze in the mixed doubles category. The bronze medal was, however, first India earned in the doubles category and only second T-T medal at the Asiad.

The other Indian pairs in the same category, however, failed to breach the pre-quarterfinals mark. Anthony Amalraj and Madhurika Patkar lost 1-3 against Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit and Lee Ho Ching. In the four-game battle, they managed to win the opening set but suffered a defeat in the next three to eventually go down 11-6, 7-11, 5-11, 4-11.

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hey had defeated the Indonesia pair of Donny Aji and Lilis Indriani 3-1 (11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9) in the round-of-32.

Earlier, Sarath and Manika had overcome the North Korean pair of An ji Song and Cha Hyo Sim 3-2 in a fiercely-contested 38-minute battle. They won 4-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8 in a five-game match in the quarter-finals to ensure India its first ever doubles medal.