Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee won a bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships, clinching India's first-ever medal in the Women's Doubles tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan. At the semifinal on October 13, the World No. 15 duo fell short against Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Khira 4-11, 9-11, 9-11. However, their splendid display in the quarterfinals on October 12 stunned 10th-seeded South Koreans Kim Nayeong and Lee Eunhye 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 to secure India’s historic medal.
On October 9, India also won the first medal in the women's team event at the Asian Championships. Although the squad faltered 1-3 in the semi-finals against Japan, they were assured of a historic bronze medal in the quarterfinals after an excellent 3-2 win over South Korea.
Remembering The Mukherjee Duo's Historic Asian Games Win
Sutirtha and Ayhika have been known to be India's lucky charm, scripting history and winning laurels at numerous international tournaments. One of their most significant wins is the bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where they defeated reigning world champion Chinese pair, Chen Meng and Yidi Wangin in the quarterfinals, assuring India of its first-ever medal.
From the outset, the Indian players maintained relentless pressure on their higher-ranked opponents. The Chinese duo, anticipated to dominate the match, faced a surprising turn of events as the Indians swiftly claimed victory in the opening game within just 8 minutes.
This trend continued in the second game, where the Indian pair wrapped it up in only 9 minutes, capitalising on numerous unforced errors made by their Chinese counterparts, especially on their forehand. While the Chinese players mounted a brief comeback by securing the third game, the Indian duo regrouped quickly to regain control in the fourth game. The pivotal moment came when Chen Meng's forehand found the net, securing India's historic win.
Ayhika, Sutirtha's Backgrounds
Even before their dominance on the world stage, Ayhika and Sutirtha were childhood friends who trained together and inspired each other to push through many odds. They both grew up in Naihati, in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, where the presence of women in sports was uncommon and often met with prejudices and ridicule. The duo trained under Mihir Ghosh.
Sutirtha's story
Sutirtha started playing table tennis when she was just seven years old. Her mother would cycle up and down regularly to take her to the training academy. In a 2023 interview, she told Sportstar about the struggles she endured from her early days. "People here could not accept that I would be wearing shorts and playing with boys. My mother and father were very supportive and brushed away the spiteful remarks to see me prosper in the game."
Sutirtha's skill and talent were evident from the early days as she won many tournaments at the state and national levels. Later, she started training at the Sports Academy of India in Eastern Centre, Kolkata, for which she had to travel at least 50 kilometres by local train. Her family faced many financial challenges during these days but never discouraged her from chasing her sporting dreams.
Sutirtha's father even quit his job to dedicate time to her training and travelling during the tournaments. She was then picked by Soumyadeep Roy and Poulomi Ghatak to train at an advanced level when they launched the Dhanuka Dhunseri Soumyadeep Poulomi (DDSP) TT Academy. Since then, she has been able to secure sponsorships which eased her struggles.
Friendship-turned-partnership with Ayhika
Ayhika's sporting career was similar as she too trained under coach Mihir Ghosh before joining DDSP. Although she started playing later, she quickly levelled up and joined Sutirtha on the court. The Mukherjee duo started playing as a doubles team for fun during their training but soon realised their potential to conquer bigger challenges as a pair.
In 2022, Ayhika and Sutirtha teamed up and became National Games champions (for Bengal) in women's doubles. The next year, they went on to win a World Tour title (WTT Contender in Tunis) and then clinched an Asian Games bronze. With this winning streak, the Ayhika-Sutirtha pair soon became an unmissable name in the Indian sports landscape. Despite distinct playing styles, they complement each other and demonstrate impeccable team spirit and sportsmanship.
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