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 18th 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.