For over an hour, the North Korean pair of Chu Suyong and Pak Sugyong came up against the yellow wall of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee. They looked to play their fast natural game; firing in smash after smash only to find the Mukherjees – not related – to get into position and block. Ten errors from the North Koreans, who looked to force the issue and a backhand winner from Sutirtha Mukherjee in the opening game gave India a 1-0 lead as it looked set for another huge scalp.
It was attritional table tennis at its best. It wasn’t pretty and wasn’t always effective but it got the job done to take North Korea to seven games in the semifinals and previously when they stunned China’s top pair Chen Mang and Wang Yidi. It was ‘Mourinhoesq’ – taking in the opponents’ best shots, subdueing the crowd who turned up to support North Korea, and forcing them into committing errors before striking back.
But surprisingly after India won the sixth game to level the scores at 3-3, both Suthirta and Ayhika changed their game up to go on the attack and lost the first four points. Then under pressure, they crumbled further to lose their semifinal 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 2-11 at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium on October 2 and finish with a bronze medal.
