Manika Batra Becomes First Indian Female To Reach Semis of Table Tennis

Manika Batra became the first Indian female to reach the semifinals of Table Tennis Asian Cup. She defeated World No. 7 Chen Xingtong & No. 23 Chen Szu-Yu.

Asian Cup Table Tennis: Manika Batra, India’s star paddler, made history on Saturday by defeating World No. 6 Hina Hayata in the bronze medal match of the Asian Cup Table Tennis 2022. 

Batra defeated Hayata 4-2 in six games to become the tournament’s first Indian woman medalist.

Asian Cup Table Tennis: India’s star paddler Manika Batra made history on Saturday when she defeated World No. 6 Hina Hayata in the bronze medal match of the Asian Cup Table Tennis 2022. 

Batra defeated Hayata 4-2 in six games to become the first Indian woman to win a medal in the tournament.

Batra, the tournament’s world number 44, became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals after defeating Chinese Taipei’s 23rd ranked Chen Szu-Yu 4-3 in the women’s singles quarterfinals. 

On Thursday, the Indian ace stunned China’s World No. 7 Chen Xingtong in a Round of 16 match.

It was used again by the Indian in her 4-3 (6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9) triumph over world No. 23 Chen Szu-Yu in the quarter-finals of the IITF-ATTU Asian Cup on Friday. 

Manika came into the competition with a bounce in her step after defeating world No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China in the Round of 16 the day before.

She is currently the first Indian woman and only the second after Chetan Baboor to reach the semi-finals of the elite Asian solo event (silver in 1997, bronze in 2000). 

On Saturday, Manika will compete against Japan’s Mima Ito, the bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympics who is rated fifth in the world, and will compete for a medal regardless of the outcome.