Diya Chitale and Manush Shah had to settle for a bronze medal after a defeat in the mixed doubles table tennis semifinal event at Asian games 2026 on September 25. Diya and Manush became the second Indian mixed doubles pair to win a medal in Asian Games history. This is India’s 11th bronze medal at Asian Games 2026.
The only other Indian mixed doubles medal in tennis table came in Jakarta Asian Games 2018. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra had bagged a bronze eight years ago.
In the semifinal clash, the Indian pair faced China's World No.2 Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha. The Chinese pair won 4-0 (11-8, 11-15, 11-8, 11-2) to advance to the final.
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Earlier, they had faced Hong Kong, China's Doo Hoi Kem and Wong Chun in the quarterfinal. The Indian pair won 3-1 (11-6, 13-15, 11-9, 11-5) to assure themselves of a medal.
Diya pays tribute to late coach
Diya's bronze medal can be considered as a tribute to her personal coach Peter Engel who died more than a week ago. Engel started coaching Diya in Germany 11 years ago. Diya's father, Parag Chitale lauded her for the achievement.
"We could not tell her about Peter's death, it happened 10 days ago. She only found out from the team after reaching Japan. She was very close to him. I am very proud that she and Manush got this medal assured, considering the loss of Peter and their recent form," Parag told PTI when the duo had assured a medal.
Before bagging a bronze medal in Asian Games 2026, the pair of Manush and Diya had faced early exits in Sweden Smash and United States Smash. Before the setbacks, the world no.8 pair had won two WTT tournaments earlier this year.
Manush's father, Utpal Shah revealed that as a youngster he wanted to take up cricket as a sport like millions others. However, an injury at the age of nine led to him taking up table tennis.
"He did play cricket initially but after the internal injury, he got into table tennis seeing me play. As parents, we are massively proud that Manush and Diya have won a medal for the country," said Utpal.