Saudi Smash 2024: Ayhika-Sutirtha, Manush-Manav pairs lose in round of 16

Asian Games bronze medallists Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Miyu Nagasaki (Japan) and Kim Nayeong (South Korea) in the round of 16 match of the Saudi Smash 2024 in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Ayhika and Sutirtha lost 3-2 (6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8) to the Nagasaki-Nayeong pair in 43 minutes.

In the men’s doubles event, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar went down 3-2 (18-20, 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7) against Lubomir Pistej (Slovakia) and Chan Baldwin (Hong Kong) in the round of 16.

Later in the day, Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade face the top-seeded Chinese pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha for a place in the mixed doubles semifinals.

Harmeet and Yashaswini began their campaign with a 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5) win over Chile’s Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega before shocking 5th-seeded Spanish duo of Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7,11-7) in the round of 16.