Men’s team, women’s team, men’s doubles, women’s doubles — India had earned medals in all these categories at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in the last five years. A mixed doubles podium had eluded the nation since 1954.

On Friday, Syndrela Das-Payas Jain lost in the quarterfinals; Yashaswini Ghorpade-Harmeet Desai were four points away from defeat against South Korea’s Ganghyeon Park and Daeun Lee. It looked like the barren streak would stretch another edition.

That is when Yashaswini stepped up, however. “Down two games and trailing 1-7 in Game 4, I could see the match slipping away. But Yashaswini turned it around,” Harmeet tells The Indian Express. “Her receive of serves became more aggressive. She took her chances. As a result, we got many quick points.”

Harmeet was playing in an aggressive vein from the start. Yashaswini’s change in tack increased his confidence too. “We complemented each other.…