Manika Batra Advances To The Table Tennis Quarterfinals In The 2023 Asian Games
Manika defeated Thailand’s Suthasini Sawetta but in a hard-fought match 4-2 (11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6) to go to the quarterfinals.
Manika Batra, the gold medalist from the Commonwealth Games, advanced to the women’s singles quarterfinals on Friday, maintaining her medal hopes, but the men’s squad had a mixed day in the table tennis competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Suthasini Sawettabut of Thailand was narrowly defeated by Manika 4-2 (11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 11-13, 12-10, 11-6) to advance to the quarterfinals.
Manika, a mixed doubles bronze medalist at the Jakarta Asian Games and a gold medalist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, will take on world no. 3 Yidi Wang of China on Saturday.
She has already lost in the mixed and women’s team events, so this is her final opportunity to bring home a medal from these Games.
Izaac Quek Yong and Yew En Koen Pang were defeated by Manav Vikash Thakkar and Manush Utpalbhai Shah of India 3-2 (3-11, 11-9, 11-6, 5-11) in the men’s round of 16.
Next, Woojin Jang and Lim Jong-hoon of Korea will square off against Manav and Manush.
The other Indian team, A Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan, fell to Chuqin Wang and Fan Zhendong of China 0-3 (5-11, 4-11, 7-11).
Manika demonstrated her prowess by defeating Nabita 4-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-3, 11-2) in under 20 minutes. Manika won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and earned a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the Asian Games in Jakarta. Her victory has prepared the field for a difficult matchup with Suthasini Sawettabut of Thailand.
Sreeja Akula, another Indian paddler, had a discouraging loss, falling to Songgyong Pyon of North Korea with a score of 0-4 (6-11, 4-11, 13-15, 9-11), ending her participation in the competition.
