India Triumphs Over Thailand in Women's Team Table Tennis at Asian Games 2026
India's Remarkable Comeback in Table Tennis
In a thrilling encounter at the Asian Games 2026 held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, India staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Thailand 3-2 in the women's team table tennis Round of 16 on Tuesday. Sreeja Akula clinched the victory in the final match, securing India's place in the quarterfinals.
The match began on a challenging note for India as Orawan Paranang rallied from two games down to claim victory over Sreeja with scores of 7-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-6, and 12-10, giving Thailand an early 1-0 advantage.
Yashaswini Ghorpade then leveled the score with a hard-fought 3-2 win against Suthasini Sawettabut. After winning the first game 11-8, she faced setbacks in the next two games, losing 5-11 and 7-11, but made a strong comeback to win the fourth and fifth games 11-9, 11-9.
Thailand regained the lead when Diya Chitale faced Jinnapan Sawettabut in a tightly contested match. Chitale had a match point at 10-9 in the final game but ultimately lost 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, and 11-13.
With India trailing 1-2, Yashaswini delivered an impressive performance against Paranang, winning decisively 11-5, 11-8, and 11-9 in just 21 minutes, bringing the score to 2-2 and setting the stage for a decisive match.
In the final match, Sreeja faced Suthasini under pressure. After dropping the first game 9-11, she bounced back to win the next two games 11-6 and 12-10, taking a 2-1 lead. Despite being down 6-8 in the fourth game, Sreeja rallied to win five consecutive points, ultimately winning the match 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, and 11-8, propelling India into the quarterfinals against North Korea.
India's performance at the Asian Games has been mixed, with Sakshi Chaudhary winning her boxing match against Aira Villegas from the Philippines in the women's 51kg Round of 32, while the men's kabaddi team triumphed over South Korea with a score of 63-31.
In shooting, Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane secured second place in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team qualification but finished fourth in the final. In soft tennis, Jay Meena won against Pakistan's Hussain Arain 4-0, while Aadhya Tiwari lost to Thailand's Alisha Ziegler 1-4 in women's singles.
In Wushu, Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam placed ninth in the women's Nanquan final, while Sachin and Hemash Singh finished fourth in their respective pools in men's individual foil. In swimming, Aryan Nehra came in fourth in the men's 1500m freestyle final B, and the 4x100m medley relay team qualified for the final after finishing seventh overall in the heats.
Chetan Bhatt lost in the men's 84kg kumite bronze medal match, and Alisha Choudhary was defeated 1-6 by Indonesia's Cok Istri Agung Sanistyarani in the women's -55kg Round of 16. Additionally, India faced a 0-3 loss to Malaysia in men's Team Regu in sepaktakraw. In equestrian dressage, Ashish Limaye finished 13th, Arjan Nagra 23rd, and Fouaad Mirza 26th.