Saudi Smash: Harmeet-Yashaswini upset 5th seeded Spanish pair, storm into quarters
The Indian duo got into the quarter finals of the tournament with a resilient display against Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao.
Yashaswini Ghorpade in action (File Photo: WTT)
Indian mixed doubles pairing of Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade pulled off a massive 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 Sports City, Jeddah.
They defeated the Spaniards 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7) in a nailbiting contest.
The match began in the favour of the Indians who took the first game with relative ease but the Spaniards bounced back strongly with an impressive second and third game win and took a crucial 2-1 lead, well poised to kill the game.
But the Indians did not back down. They fought hard in the fourth game and stormed back into the match by winning the game, and with that momentum, they went on to claim the deciding game as well, winning the tie 3-2 and causing a massive upset in the tournament.
What next for the duo?
The newly formed duo will now await the result of the round of 16 clash between China's top-seeded Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha against 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.