India’s Ayhika Mukherjee was again to her giant-slaying methods, beating World No. 8 Shin Yubin and World No. 16 Jeon Jihee to present India an exceptional win over second seeds & World No. 3 Korea within the quarterfinal of the ladies’s staff occasion on the Asian TT Championships at Astana Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
India’s Golden Woman Manika Batra too shocked Jihee to present the unheralded staff a spot within the semifinal the place they tackle World No. 2 Japan.
Getting a direct place within the quarterfinal courtesy of their Olympic quarterfinal end and particular person rankings, India have been the underdogs towards Olympic bronze medallists Korea however like nationwide coach Massimo Costantini informed The Indian Categorical: “This Indian staff isn’t frightened of taking part in towards world’s finest”.
It’s this perception that Ayhika portrayed when she performed the opening match of the tie towards Korea’s finest participant, 20-year-old Yubin, who not so way back, reached the semifinal of the Paris Olympics.
In a shocking blitz, Ayhika twice parried off Shin’s comebacks, to win 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7.
Ayhika received the opening recreation, misplaced the second, and fought again from 2-8 down within the third to win it 12-10. All of a sudden she seemed like a extra assured participant and although she misplaced the subsequent recreation, confirmed no nerves to take the ultimate recreation and the match.
It was then time for Manika Batra to indicate her mettle and the 29-year-old took on the skilled left-handed Jihee, who received the WTT Doha Contender earlier this 12 months. If the Ayhika-Yubin match was a battle of persistence, the Manika-Jihee match was all about energy and ferocious assault.
The World No. 29 Manika twiddled, attacking throughout the desk however was most profitable taking part in her forehand topspin assault down the road to Jihee’s backhand. The Korean too troubled Manika smashes to the middle of the desk and because the recreation reached 10-10 within the remaining fifth recreation, it was all about persistence. It was Jihee who blinked first and Manika took the match to present India a 2-0 lead.
The lead quickly vanished with Sreeja Akula, getting back from a 6-week harm layoff shedding the subsequent match to Lee Eunhye in straight video games and Manika taking Yubin the space however shedding the fifth recreation.
It was then as much as Ayhika to present India the win of a lifetime and the 27-year-old, who misplaced her place within the Indian staff on the Olympics to Archana Kamath, confirmed why she might be counted on in big-match conditions.
She fought again from a recreation right down to beat Jihee 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 12-10 to present India the match and the tie.
