Manush Shah and Diya Chitale stunned Hong Kong’s world No. 4 pair Wong Chun-Ting and Doo Hoi Kem to reach the mixed doubles semifinals and assure India of a table tennis medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
NAGOYA, Sept 2026 : Indian table tennis players Manush Shah and Diya Chitale produced a memorable performance at the Asian Games on Friday, defeating Hong Kong’s world No. 4 pair Wong Chun-Ting and Doo Hoi Kem to secure a medal in the mixed doubles event.
The Indian duo prevailed 3-1 (11-6, 13-15, 11-9, 11-5) in the quarterfinal, booking their place in the semifinals and assuring India of its fourth overall table tennis medal at the continental showpiece.
Manush and Diya will next face Chinese world No. 2 pair Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semifinals later on Friday. The Indians will be aiming to go a step further and become the first Indian mixed doubles pair to reach an Asian Games final.
The victory also ensured India’s second medal in Asian Games mixed doubles. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra had won bronze in the event at the 2018 Jakarta Games.
Manush and Diya began confidently against the experienced Hong Kong combination, taking the opening game 11-6. The second game proved much closer, with Wong and Doo edging the Indians 15-13 to level the match at 1-1.
With the contest finely balanced, the Indian pair maintained their composure and secured the third game 11-9. That result put them within one game of a guaranteed medal.
The Indians then raised their intensity in the fourth game, racing to an 11-5 victory to close out the match and confirm their place in the last four.
The result adds to India’s growing record in Asian Games table tennis. Before the Aichi-Nagoya edition, the country had won three medals in the sport, all bronze.
Apart from the mixed doubles bronze won by Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra in Jakarta in 2018, India’s men’s team also claimed bronze at the same Games. Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan and Manav Thakkar, who are part of the Indian squad in Aichi-Nagoya, were members of that medal-winning team.
India’s third table tennis medal came at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, when Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee secured bronze in the women’s doubles event.
In another event on Friday, Indian shooters Kamaljeet and Suruchi Inder Singh advanced to the four-team final of the 10m air pistol mixed team competition after topping the qualification round.
The Indian pair finished first among 21 teams with a score of 587, including 29 inner 10s. Iran qualified second with 584-17x, followed by South Korea with 582-23x and Indonesia with 580-30x.
The four teams will now compete for the medals in the final, giving India another opportunity to add to its medal tally in Aichi-Nagoya.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
