November 14: Manush Shah and Diya Chitale won India’s only table tennis medal at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, a bronze in mixed doubles, the official Games results show. The pair won three straight matches, including a 3–1 quarterfinal over Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, before losing 0–4 to China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha in the semifinal on September 25. At the Asian Games, both losing semifinalists receive a bronze medal.
Key highlights
- India’s medal: mixed doubles bronze for Manush Shah, 25, and Diya Chitale, 23.
- Their run: wins over pairs from Sri Lanka (3–0), the Maldives (3–0) and Hong Kong (3–1).
- Semifinal: a 0–4 defeat to China’s Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha.
- Team events: India’s women reached the quarterfinals; the men went out in the first knockout round.
- Venue: Sky Hall Toyota in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture.
The road to bronze
| Round | Date | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 2 | September 23 | Chanul Kulappuwawadu and Bimandee Swarna (Sri Lanka) | Won 3–0 |
| Round 3 | September 23 | Moosa Ahmed and Aishath Nazim (Maldives) | Won 3–0 |
| Quarterfinal | September 25 | Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem (Hong Kong) | Won 3–1 |
| Semifinal | September 25 | Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha (China) | Lost 0–4 (bronze) |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the pair on September 26, saying the medal adds to the growing popularity of table tennis in India and that their determination “will inspire many young players”.
How India’s other players fared
| Event | Indian players | How far they went |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s team | Squad including Diya Chitale | Won all three group matches (Indonesia 3–0, Singapore 3–2, Pakistan 3–0), beat Thailand 3–2, lost 0–3 to North Korea in the quarterfinal |
| Men’s team | Squad including Manush Shah | Beat Indonesia and Pakistan 3–0, lost 0–3 to Iran in the group, then lost 0–3 to South Korea in the first knockout round |
| Men’s singles | Manush Shah | Beat Malaysia’s Wong Qi Shen and Iran’s Benyamin Faraji 4–0 each, lost 0–4 to China’s Lin Shidong in round 3 |
| Women’s doubles | Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale | Beat an Iranian pair 3–0, lost 0–3 to China’s Fan Shuhan and Chen Yi in round 3 |
| Men’s doubles | Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah | Lost 1–3 to Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto and Hiroto Shinozuka in round 2 |
Our calculation
| Question | Answer | How we got it |
|---|---|---|
| Games won by Shah and Chitale before the semifinal | 9 of 10 | 3–0, 3–0 and 3–1 |
| India’s women’s team record | 4 wins, 1 loss | Three group wins, one knockout win, one quarterfinal loss |
| Table tennis share of India’s Asian Games medals | 1 of 85 | Sports Ministry medal count |
What it means for India and Asia
Asian table tennis is the strongest in the world, and China, Japan and the two Koreas set the standard. India’s players showed they can beat the rest of the region but still struggle against the very top: every defeat in the results above came against players from China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea or Iran. The mixed doubles bronze, and a women’s team that beat Singapore and Thailand, give India something to build on.
What to watch
- Whether Shah and Chitale can turn their Asian Games form into wins on the world tour.
- How India’s women’s team performs against North Korea and Japan at the next team championships.
- Olympic qualification for Los Angeles 2028.
Diya Chitale at the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships (file photo). Image: Bearas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo source · Licence
Sources
- Official results: 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026
- Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Organising Committee: Table tennis
- Prime Minister’s Office: PM congratulates Manush Shah and Diya Chitale on winning bronze
- PIB (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports): Asian Games 2026, India’s journey from New Delhi to Aichi-Nagoya (PDF)
The Sports Desk covers cricket, the Asian Games and Indian and international sport. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
