Yashaswini-Harmeet seal historic mixed doubles medal at Asian TT Championships

India's mixed doubles table tennis duo, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Harmeet Desai, secured a historic medal at the Asian TT Championships on Friday. The Indian pair triumphed over South Korea's Ganghyeon Park and Daeun Lee in a closely contested five-setter, reaching the quarterfinals. Both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals at the Asian Table Tennis Championships, marking a 72-year wait for India's achievement in the event.

Yatin Vyas and Meena Parande previously won silver in 1954, while Gool Nasikwala and Kalyan Jayant took gold in 1952. Yashaswini and Harmeet edged out Park-Lee 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 in just 42 minutes. They had earlier defeated Hsien-Chia Hsu and Ying Syuan Wu from Chinese Taipei in the round of 16, and Citra Rasmi and Muhammad Negara from Indonesia in the round of 32.

Facing Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima in the semis, the Indian duo will aim to add another title to their collection. Another Indian pair, Syndrela Das and Payas Jain, reached the last eight but lost to China's Chen Yi and Huang Youzheng. Manav Thakkar and Payas Jain compete in men's doubles, reaching the round of 16, while Syndrela and Swastika Ghosh advance in the women's singles draw.

India had been eliminated from team events in the Asian Games and Asian TT Championships, losing both matches to South Korea. At the 2018 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Diya Chitale and Manush Shah secured a historic bronze medal in mixed doubles.