Gold for Manika Batra, G Sathiyan at World Table Tennis Contender Budapest 2021; Manika crashes Out of Semifinals
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World Table Tennis Contender Budapest: Manika Batra and G Sathiyan
The Indian team at the World Table Tennis Contender Budapest had a strong showing, with several paddlers reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals after a strong performances.
While the men’s doubles pair of Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Thakkar made it all the way to the semifinals before losing, the Indian mixed doubles pair won their way to the finals. Manika Batra and G Sathiyan unleashed their front hand and back hand in the semifinals against Aleksandr Khanin and Daria Trigolos of Belarus, winning 11-6,11-5,11-4 in straight sets.
The finals saw the duo go up against Nandor Ecseki and Dora Madarasz of Hungary, who were home favourites to win. The tough and intense match saw the Indians hold out and eventually win 3-1 in sets of 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6. It was a memorable win for the duo, who last played and took home the bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
“It is great that we were able to win the event with very little practice. It certainly shows what we can achieve as a pair. We were quite tactically and seem to complement each other’s game,” Sathiyan told PTI.
World Table Tennis Contender Budapest: Manika Batra Registers win Against Sreeja Akula; loses in Semifinals
The quarterfinals saw an all Indian clash, as Sreeja Akula stunned the world to make her way and go up against Manika, who also registered an emphatic win. Eventually experience play the important role in the match, as Manika beat Sreeja 3-2 with the score of 7-11, 11-1 8-11 13-11 11-6.
Batra was then up against Elizabet Abraamian of Russia, who was much lower ranked than the Indian. However, in an upsetting finish, Batra went down to the Russian paddler 0-4, settling for the bronze medal.
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Saivee Phatak
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