Ayhika / Prapti defeated the Chinese threat and defeated the 2nd seed and reached the semifinals of the WTT Feeder Otočec
Experienced rower Ayhika Mukherjee and her new partner Prapti Sen were the last two players from India at the WTT Feeder Otočec tournament in Slovenia, when they qualified for the semifinals of the women’s doubles, which caused a lot of excitement.
Eighth seed Ayhika Mukherjee and Prapti Sen, who have already faced Chinese duo Han Feier / Xu Yi in the round of 16, were ruthless against second seed Hungarian combine Dora Madarasz / Georgina Pot and reserved their place. in the semi-finals and secured third place for India.
Mukherjee, who usually plays with Tokyo Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee, teamed up with Prapti Sen for this and this is their first joint international event since the 2018 National Championships, when Ayhika and Prapti ran to the semifinals. Again after four years on the international stage, the results of this reunion are truly remarkable.
“Unlike the Chinese, we dominated from the start, but then they started coming back, which encouraged us to change our strategy,” Ayhika told The Bridge, at its peak after successive victories.
“Because I use a different tire, I saw the Chinese pair get confused with how my tire affected the ball. My partner Prapti also has a very good block-and-attack game and whenever she got the chance, she finished the point well. , ”Mentions Ayhika and praises the 20-year-old.
Ayhika and Prapti had to dig pretty deep against the Chinese duo and were only able to run the match 3-2, winning 9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11 and entering the quarter where they met. other seeds.
“Strangely, we had a harder fight against the Chinese than the other holders,” Ayhika shyly mentioned, signaling a 3-1 (5-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-5) victory over Madaraszo / Poto . to enter the last four.
“Today we were just consistent and had excellent coordination, there was no room for mistakes! Although we are only coming together for the second time this time, there were no such communication problems and this was reflected in our game and on the table,” Ayhika continues. he shares it with young Prapti.
Hungry for medals from the event now that all other Indian rowers have left the tournament – Ayhika is aware of the tough challenge in the semi-finals as she will have to face fifth seed Hong Kong pair Lee Ho Ching / Soo Wai Yam Minnie for a medal shot on June 25th.