Table Tennis Asian Cup 2022 Highlights: Manika Batra pulled off yet another upset as she defeated World no 23 Chen Szu Yu on Friday. India’s top-ranked women’s table tennis player faced a stern test in the quarterfinals clash, but eventually sealed a victory in seven games to reach the semifinals. Earlier, Batra had knocked out World No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China. Follow ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup updates with InsideSport.IN
Table Tennis Asian Cup 2022 Highlights: Manika Batra clinches ANOTHER UPSET, beats World No.23 Chen Szu Yu to reach SEMIFINALS – Watch Highlights
Star paddler Manika Batra on Friday became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the Asian Cup Table Tennis tournament with a 4-3 win over higher ranked Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei here. World number 44 Manika beat Chen, ranked 23rd in the ITTF chart, 6-11 11- 6 11-5 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-9 in a hard-fought women’s singles quarterfinals.
The Indian ace had earlier shocked world No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China in a round of 16 match on Thursday. In the semifinals, Manika will meet the winner of the match between Jeon Jihee of Korea and Mima Ito of Japan.
Earlier on Thursday, Batra produced a stunning performance to register a victory over World No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China in the first round.
The Indian paddler defeated the fourth-seeded table tennis player 4-3 (8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9). Batra gained an 8-3 lead and appeared to be on track after the match went into a decider. Chen used her expertise to tie the game at 9-9, but two consecutive mistakes from her handed Manika Batra one of the biggest victories of her career.
Table Tennis Asian Cup: Manika Batra upsets World No. 7 Chinese, Sathiyan exits
I am really happy beating world no. 7 in the TT Asia Cup , will just continue playing my best and keep this focus for next rounds.
This is my 3rd win against Chinese player recently.
Thank you everyone for supporting and cheering for me. pic.twitter.com/lcP5IZ8Kzt— Manika Batra (@manikabatra_TT) November 17, 2022
On the other hand, in the men’s singles, both the Indian challengers – Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, world No. 39, and India’s national champion Sharath Kamal, ranked 44th – were knocked out after losing in the first round.
Sathiyan fought back against World No. 26 Yukiya Uda of Japan and levelled the match at 3-3 after being 2-0 down. However, he eventually bit the dust in the final game and lost the match 4-3 (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 9-11,11-6, 10-12, 11-6).
Later in the day, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Sharath Kamal clinched the first game against World No. 16 Chuang Chih-Yuan of
Chinese Taipei but went down in the next four to lose 4-1 (11-7, 4-11, 7-11, 4-11, 6-11).
The three-day table tennis competition, which includes men’s and women’s singles events, will conclude on November 19.
Table Tennis Asian Cup 2022 Highlights: Manika Batra clinches ANOTHER UPSET, beats World No.23 Chen Szu Yu to reach SEMIFINALS – Watch Highlights
Follow ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup updates with InsideSport.IN
