Indian mixed doubles pairing of Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade pulled off a large upset in the 2024 Saudi Smash by defeating the 5th-seed Spanish duo Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao in the round of 16 at King Abdullah Sporting activities City, Jeddah.
They defeated the Spaniards 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7) in a nailbiting contest.
The match started in the favour of the Indians who took the initial activity with relative relieve but the Spaniards bounced back again strongly with an amazing 2nd and third video game gain and took a crucial 2-1 lead, effectively poised to get rid of the sport.
But the Indians did not back down. They fought difficult in the fourth sport and stormed back again into the match by successful the sport, and with that momentum, they went on to declare the choosing recreation as perfectly, winning the tie 3-2 and creating a massive upset in the event.
What upcoming for the duo?
The freshly shaped duo will now await the final result of the spherical of 16 clash among China’s top rated-seeded Wang Chuqin and Solar Yingsha from Ali Alkhadrawi of Saudi Arabia and Hana Goda from Egypt.
The winner of that match will face the Indian duo in the quarter-finals of the Saudi Smash.