CHENNAI: India's premier mixed doubles pair of Diya Chitale and Manush Shah were handed a straight set semifinal defeat by the formidable World No 1 pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the Asian Games on Friday. They return home with a bronze medal.
The duo rallied to get the first three points of the match but from then on they could not put up with Chuqin and Yingsha as they lost the first two games within 12 minutes. In the third game, they put up a fight but lost 8-11. The fourth game was a formality as the Chinese pair rounded it off with 11-2 victory.
The duo's medal winning performance mean that India's medal streak in Asian Games continue. In the 2023 Games in Hangzhou, it was the women’s doubles pair of Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee winning bronze.
In the lead-up to the Asian Games, the pair took part in the WTT Contenders in Almaty, Kazakhstan as top seeds. However, they bowed out in the quarterfinals.
Friday’s medal assurance win is an amendment of sorts. Before this semifinal, Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade were defeated by Fan Shuhan and Chen Yi in round three of women’s doubles.
Earlier, Manush and Divya beat World No 4 pair Chun Ting Wong and Hoi Kem Doo of Hong Kong. The pair got off to a winning start against their opponents. However, in the second set, they were pegged back to 1-1. Then, the duo upped the gears, and went on to wiMeanwhile Manush, pairing with Manav Thakkar, lost to the Japanese top pair of Tomakazu Harimoto and Hiroto Shinozuka.
After winning their first match of the day, the pair of Sathiyan G and Harmeet Desai lost to Japanese pair Matsushima Sora and Shubsuke Togami 3-0.