India's Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade have won the bronze medal in mixed doubles at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Tashkent, ending a 72-year wait for an Indian podium finish in the event. The medal was confirmed when the pair reached the semi-finals on Friday, October 23, and their run ended there against Japan.

Source: IANS via NewKerala

The quarter-final was the match that sealed the medal. Desai and Ghorpade came from behind to beat South Korea's Park Ganghyeon and Lee Daeun 3-2, winning 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a contest that lasted more than 42 minutes, according to The Bridge. In the semi-final, Japan's Sora Matsushima and Miwa Harimoto beat the Indian pair in straight games, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8.

Source: The Bridge

BronzeMixed doubles medal, Tashkent
72 yearsSince India's last medal in the event (1954)
3-2Quarter-final win over South Korea
1952India's mixed doubles gold at the first Asian Championships

India's previous mixed doubles medals at the Asian Championships came at the very start of the tournament's history: gold for Gool Nasikwala and Kalyan Jayant in 1952, and silver for Yatin Vyas and Meena Parande in 1954. No Indian pair had reached the podium in the event since then, which is what makes the Tashkent bronze a landmark for Indian table tennis.

India's other mixed doubles pair in Tashkent, Payas Jain and Syndrela Das, went out in the quarter-finals and did not reach the medal rounds, IANS reported. For Desai and Ghorpade, the bronze also follows a near miss at the recent Asian Games, where the same pairing reached the mixed doubles quarter-finals.