India staged a dramatic comeback to beat Thailand 3-2 in a thrilling women’s team table tennis Round of 16 encounter at the Asian Games 2026 on Tuesday, with clinching the decisive victory in the final round.
The match started on a tough note for India as Orawan Paranang recovered from a two-game deficit to edge out Sreeja 7-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, giving Thailand an early advantage. Yashaswini Ghorpade restored parity by battling back from 1-2 down to defeat Suthasini Sawettabut 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9.
Thailand went ahead once more after Jinnapan Sawettabut saved a match point at 10-9 in the decider to outlast Diya Chitale 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-13 in another five-game marathon. Facing elimination at 1-2 down, Yashaswini delivered a well-judged, dominant 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 victory over Paranang in just 21 minutes, levelling the tie at 2-2.
Sreeja then delivered under pressure against Suthasini in the decider. After losing the opening game 9-11, she won the next two 11-6, 12-10 to take a 2-1 lead.
The Indian table tennis star was 6-8 down in the fourth game but produced a strong finish, winning five consecutive points to close out the game and the match. Sreeja won 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 to send India into the quarterfinals. India will face North Korea in the women’s team quarterfinal.
India stars shine in boxing and swimming
Outside table tennis, India experienced a mixed day across multiple sports in Aichi-Nagoya.
In boxing, advanced in the women’s 51kg Round of 32 by outpointing Aira Villegas of the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Indian men’s kabaddi team recorded a dominant 63-31 Group A victory over South Korea.
In shooting, the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team of and Parth Mane took second place in qualification before ultimately finishing fourth in the final. The Indian rifle players could not build on a successful day two at the Asian Games.
In swimming, Aryan Nehra finished fourth in the men’s 1500m freestyle final B, while the 4x100m medley relay team of Rishabh Das, Akash Mani, Benediction Beniston and Dhanush Suresh finished seventh overall in the heats to qualify for the final.