The bronze medallists from the Asian Games, Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukherjee, lost to Kim Nayeong (South Korea) and Miyu Nagasaki (Japan) in the Saudi Smash 2024 round of 16 on Tuesday in Jeddah.
Defeats galore
In 43 minutes, Ayhika and Sutirtha lost 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8) to the pair of Nagasaki-Nayeong.
Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar lost 3-2 (18-20, 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7) to Chan Baldwin (Hong Kong) and Lubomir Pistej (Slovakia) in the round of 16 of the men’s doubles competition.
The top-seeded Chinese team of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha easily defeated Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade 0-3 (6-11, 10-12, 4-11) later in the day in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.
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After defeating Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega of Chile 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5) to start their campaign, Harmeet and Yashaswini shocked Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao, the fifth-seeded Spanish pair, 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7) in the round of 16.
Manika India’s only hope
The defeats end the Indian challenge in the Saudi Smash in doubles category. Manika Batra, the only remaining competitor from India, will take on German Nina Mittelham in the round of 16. Manika advanced in the tournament after upsetting Wang Manyu, the number one seed, in her round of 32 match earlier.
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