SportsPosted at: Sep 25 2026 5:16PM


From chance pairing to Asiad medal: Manush-Diya script stunning upset

New Delhi, Sep 25 (UNI) What began as a chance pairing in 2023 has delivered an Asian Games medal for Manush Shah and Diya Chitale, who clinched bronze in the mixed doubles event at Aichi-Nagoya on Friday.
The Indian pair’s run ended in the semifinals with a 0-4 (8-11, 5-11, 8-11, 2-11) defeat to China’s Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin, but their medal marked another significant milestone for Indian table tennis.
Manush and Diya had earlier produced the biggest win of their partnership by stunning Hong Kong’s world No. 4 pair Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, the 2025 World Championships bronze medallists, 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
The Indians, ranked eighth in the WTT mixed doubles standings, stayed composed against the experienced Hong Kong combination to win 11-6, 13-15, 11-9, 11-5.
India’s foreign coach Massimo Costantini had described the quarterfinal victory as a “half miracle”, given the quality of the opposition and the depth of Asian table tennis.
The bronze is only India’s fourth table tennis medal in Asian Games history and extends the country’s recent run of success in the doubles events.
India’s men’s team created history with a bronze at the 2018 Asian Games, while Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra won mixed doubles bronze at Jakarta. At Hangzhou in 2023, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee added another bronze in women’s doubles.
Manush and Diya have now kept that doubles medal streak going.
Their partnership began almost by chance. In 2023, neither was among the leading individual players in the national setup and both were without regular doubles partners. They decided to team up and give mixed doubles a try.
The combination soon began making an impact on the WTT circuit. After winning titles at the Feeder level, they captured the WTT Contender Tunis title, beating Japan’s Miwa Harimoto and Sora Matsushima in the final. That victory gave them the belief that they could challenge leading Asian combinations.
The left-handed Manush and right-handed Diya also complement each other with contrasting styles, both comfortable playing an aggressive game.
Their preparation for the Asian Games was far from ideal, with no national camp held before the event. Manush travelled from Surat to Mumbai for a short training stint with Diya. The time together proved enough to produce a breakthrough result as the pair turned an unlikely beginning into an Asian Games medal.
Yashaswini, Manush advance after disappointing campaigns in doubles
While Yashaswini Ghorpade progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles after beating Syria’s Hend Zaza 4-1 (11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4), it was the end of the campaign for Sreeja Akula, who lost 4-1 (11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7) to North Korea’s Pyon Song Gyong in the Round of 32.
In men’s singles, Manush Shah defeated Iran’s Benyamin Faraji 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5) to advance to the pre-quarterfinals. However, Manav Thakkar crashed out in the Round of 32 after losing 4-2 to North Korea’s U Tae Ryong. Manav won the opening and fifth games, but U Tae Ryong fought back to seal the contest 4-2 (4-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 11-3).
The men’s doubles campaign also came to an end after Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah lost 3-1 (11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6) to Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Hiroto Shinozuka, while Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai went down 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9) to Japan’s Sora Matsushima and Shunsuke Togami.
The women’s doubles campaign also endured a painful outing with Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale crashing out after losing 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-8) to China’s Fan Shuhan and Chen Yi in the Round of 16. Earlier, Sreeja Akula and Syndrela Das bowed out after losing 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7) to China’s world No. 2 duo Kuai Man and Wang Manyu in their Rd of 16 contest.
UNI TB RSA
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