In a sensational turn of events at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals 2024 in Busan, Ayhika Mukherjee delivered a stunning performance that left the table tennis world in awe. Defying all odds, the Indian player secured victory over the world's No 1 player and Chinese Table Tennis World Champion Sun Yingsha in the women's singles match.

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Ayhika Mukherjee stuns world No 1 Sun Yingsha. Image | The Hindu

Ayhika Mukherjee, 26, set the tone with a monumental victory over world No. 1 Sun Yingsha, marking the first-ever defeat for Sun in team World Championship events for China, as per WTT. In a gripping encounter, Mukherjee fought back from behind, displaying remarkable grit and resolve to secure a thrilling win.

Following Ayhika Mukherjee's triumph, Sreeja Akula also continued India's dominance by outclassing world No. 2 Wang Yidi in straight games. With a display of forehand mastery, Akula exhibited her recent good form to pocket the first two games 11-7 and 11-9. Despite a spirited fightback from Wang Yidi, Akula held her nerve to clinch victory, propelling India into a surreal position against the serial world champions, leading 2-1.

However, the Indian team faced tough opposition from the powerhouse Chinese squad, with Manika Batra losing matches No. 2 and 4, and Mukherjee narrowly missing another upset against Wang Manyu, world No. 4, in the decider. Despite the eventual 2-3 loss to China, the monumental victories by Ayhika Mukherjee and Akula marked a historic morning for Indian table tennis.

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Recently, Ayhika Mukherjee alongside her childhood friend Sutirtha Mukherjee stunned the table tennis community and grabbed headlines. They produced arguably the single-most stunning result for India at the Asian Games. Chinese paddlers simply don't lose very often, let alone in their own backyard. And so the win for the Mukherjees, not related to each other, against reigning world champions and then world number 2 Chinese duo of Chen Meng and Wang Yidi in the quarterfinals was seismic. It assured India's first in women's doubles at the Asian Games.

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