It was a match-up between the world No.1 and No. 155. One would have expected China’s Sun Yingsha — on top of the world rankings — to have an easy outing but India paddler Ayhika Mukherjee had other plans.
Naihati girl Ayhika stunned the world of table tennis in Busan on Friday by defeating Sun 12-10, 2-11, 13-11, 11-6 in the opening singles of the group-stage contest at the World Team Championships.
What makes the win sweeter, according to Ayhika’s father, Gautam Mukherjee, is “Sun has never lost a match in a team event of a world championship”.
India fell short though, losing the tie 3-2 to China.
But it was not before Ayhika and Sreeja Akula got the better of the two best players in the world.
“I feel great. Today was my day. I was confident and I just told myself that I should enjoy the match,” Ayhika said after defeating Sun.
Sreeja, who blanked world No. 2 Wang Yidi 11-7, 11-9, 13-11 in the third singles of the encounter, said: “It was surely the biggest win of my career. I have always wanted to face Wang and finally got to play her today (Friday).
“Ayhika’s win gave me a lot of confidence. This win gives me the confidence that I can beat anyone on my day but our main goal here is to qualify for the quarter finals (which ensures Olympic qualification).”
Also playing was Manika Batra but the star paddler lost both her singles, while Ayhika went down in the fifth to Wang Manyu 9-11, 11-13, 6-11. Manika lost to Manyu (3-11, 8-11, 15-13, 7-11) and Sun (3-11, 6-11, 13-11, 9-11).
India play their next set of matches on Sunday against Hungary.
Ayhika’s father Gautam, who watched her games live, later told The Telegraph: “I really have no words to express the joy I felt when Ayhika defeated Sun. It goes without saying I am very proud.”
Soumyadeep Roy, the 26-year-old’s coach, who spoke to her before the match, said: “It is one of her biggest achievements. This also proves that when she and Sutirtha Mukherjee beat world champions Chen Meng and Yidi Wang of China in the Asian Games, it was not a fluke.
“I believe she can beat anyone. Even in the last match, had she won the first game, which she was leading 9-7, it might have been a different story. China are a much superior team and a 2-3 result against them is not easy.
“I feel India have a good chance to go through the group stage. This is also the Olympics qualifiers for the team event, so there is added pressure. But I think we should do well.”
