Table Tennis: World No 92 Ayhika Mukherjee upsets Korean World No 8 Shin Yubin in QF thriller

Ayhika Mukherjee, India's Asian Games doubles winner defeated World No 8 Shin Yubin of Korea in the team quarterfinals of the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

In a thrilling encounter, Mukherjee overcame Shin's fightbacks twice to secure a 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 victory.

Left out of the Tokyo Olympics in favor of Archana Kamath, Mukherjee had claimed the Asian Games doubles bronze.

She was fielded to play the opening singles match against second-seeded Korea and faced Shin, a 20-year-old prodigy who reached the semifinals of the Paris Olympics in what turned out to be a gripping contest.

India took an early 2-0 lead in their tie, with Mukherjee and Manika Batra winning hard-fought bouts. Ayhika defeated Shin Yubin 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, while Manika from Delhi beat Jeon Jihee 12-14, 13-11, 11-5, 5-11, 12-10.

However, Korea rallied to mount a comeback. Sreeja Akula competing in her second competition following an injury layoff was defeated 0-3 by Lee Eunhye. Yubin then exacted revenge by defeating Manika in a close 3-2 match in which the Indian rallied from two games down but finally fell short.

Mukherjee rescued India in this tie by winning three consecutive games against Jihee in the final match.

The Indian women's team will face Japan in...

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