Asian Games Table Tennis: 21-year-old Yashaswini fires India into quarterfinals

The Indian women’s table tennis team moved one win away from a historic Asian Games medal after edging 2022 bronze medalists Thailand 3-2 in a thrilling pre-quarterfinal match on Tuesday.

The win kept alive India’s hopes of adding to their modest medal tally in the sport. India have won only three medals in table tennis in the history of the Asian Games, with the men’s team bronze in 2018 being their only medal in the team events.

India @ Asian Games Day 3 Update

The women’s team had to dig deep after trailing twice before Sreeja Akula came through in the decider. 21-year-old Yashasswini Ghorpade continued her brilliant run, winning both matches in the preliminary quarters.

They will face traditional powerhouses North Korea in the quarter-finals, a victory that guaranteed India a medal.

Sreeja opened the tie by letting a strong start slip against Orawan Paranang. She won the opening two games 11-7, 11-1, but Paranang fought back and won the next three 9-11, 6-11, 10-12.

Yashaswini Ghorpade restored parity with a gritty 3-2 win over Suthasini Sawettabut. The 21-year-old fought back from 1-2 down to win the fourth and fifth games 11-9, 11-9 to level the tie.

Thailand moved ahead again as 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 with 11-7, 11-13 wins in the last two games to give Thailand one win in the quarter-finals.

However, Ghorpade refused to let India escape. She produced perhaps the most dominant performance of the tie as she outlasted 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 veteran batsman delivered. She recovered from her opening match loss against Suthasini to win 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 to seal a memorable comeback.

Former table tennis player and Olympian Neha Aggarwal Sharma praised Ghorpade for her composure under pressure.

“Yashaswini Ghorpade is the one who handles pressure so well and has won most of the matches for India here at the Asian Games. Today she will win both her matches against Thailand in the R16,” she said.

India are unbeaten so far in the tournament, winning all three of their group matches, including a remarkable victory over Singapore. However, against North Korea, one of the traditional powerhouses of table tennis at the Asian Games, the challenge will be much more difficult.

THE MEN’S COOPERATION TAKES AWAY

Meanwhile, India men bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals after losing 0-3 to Korea. The 2018 bronze medalists failed to bounce back, with Harmeet Desai losing 1-3 to Jang Woojin, Manush Shah losing 2-3 to Oh Junsung and Manav Thakkar losing 1-3 to An Jaehyun.

India opted not to field veteran batsman G Sathiyan for the crunch match against Korea, a decision that will inevitably call for scrutiny after the one-sided defeat.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

22 Sep 2026 12:36 IST