Table tennis: 21-year-old Yashaswini fires India women's team into quarters
India's women's table tennis team moved to within one victory of a historic Asian Games medal after edging past 2022 bronze medallists Thailand in a thrilling 3-2 pre-quarterfinal tie on Tuesday.
The victory kept India's hopes of adding to their modest medal tally in the sport alive. India have won only three table tennis medals in Asian Games history, with the men's team's bronze in 2018 their only medal in the team events.
The women's team had to dig deep after falling behind twice before Sreeja Akula delivered in the deciding match. 21-year-old Yashasswini Ghorpade continued her fine run, winning both her matches in the pre-quarters.
They will face traditional powerhouses North Korea in the quarter-finals, with victory guaranteeing India a medal.
Sreeja began the tie by letting slip a strong start against Orawan Paranang. She won the opening two games 11-7, 11-1, but Paranang fought back to take the next three 9-11, 6-11, 10-12.
Yashaswini Ghorpade restored parity with a gritty 3-2 victory over Suthasini Sawettabut. The 21-year-old fought back after trailing 1-2, winning the fourth and fifth games 11-9, 11-9 to level the tie. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sony LIV (@sonylivindia)Thailand moved ahead again when Diya Chitale lost a five-game battle to Jinnipa Sawettabut. Chitale won the second and third games to take a 2-1 lead, but Jinnipa responded to win 11-7, 11-13 in the final two games and put Thailand within one victory of the quarter-finals.
Ghorpade, however, refused to let India slip away. She produced perhaps the most dominant performance of the tie, sweeping Paranang 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 to make it 2-2.
That left Sreeja with the responsibility of keeping India's campaign alive, and the experienced paddler delivered. She recovered from losing the opening game against Suthasini to win 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 and seal a memorable comeback.
Former table tennis player and Olympian Neha Aggarwal Sharma praised Ghorpade for her composure under pressure.
"Yashaswini Ghorpade is coming out to be the one handling the pressure so well and winning most of the matches for India here at Asian Games. She wins both her matches today vs Thailand in R16," she said.
India have been unbeaten in the tournament so far, winning all three of their group matches, including a notable victory over Singapore. But the challenge gets significantly tougher against North Korea, one of the traditional powerhouses in Asian Games table tennis.MEN'S TEAM BOWS OUT
India's men, meanwhile, bowed out in the pre-quarter-finals after a 0-3 defeat to Korea. The 2018 bronze medallists were unable to mount a fightback, with Harmeet Desai losing 1-3 to Jang Woojin, Manush Shah going down 2-3 to Oh Junsung and Manav Thakkar losing 1-3 to An Jaehyun.
India had opted not to field experienced campaigner G Sathiyan in the crunch tie against Korea, a decision that will inevitably invite scrutiny after the one-sided defeat.- EndsPublished By: Akshay RameshPublished On: Sep 22, 2026 12:36 IST
