It cannot get bigger and better for star Indian paddler Manika Batra, as she continued her dream run at the Saudi Smash, and beat World No. 14 Nina Mittelham of Germany, to book a spot in the quarters of the tournament on Wednesday. The Delhi-girl won with a comfortable margin of 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 in just 22 minutes to make it to the maiden quarters of the event. The win also marked her first against the German opponent Mittelham, who had beaten Manika in the last four encounters.
Now, this means that Manika Batra will be up against the World No. 5 Japanese player Hina Hayata. Meanwhile, in the previous round, the World No. 39 Indian had beaten the World No. 2 Chinese player Wang Manyu 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10. In the first round, she posted an easy win over Romania’s Andreea Dragoman 11-6, 13-11, 11-8.
Manika Batra to Become India No. 1 Again
Following some solid results this year, Manika had lost her top spot in India to Sreeja Akula, but now, the 2018 CWG gold medalist is set to take over again. For now, Akula is only one spot above Manika, at 38th position. As far as the men’s singles rankings is concerned, veteran Sharath Kamal leads the charts at 37th position, followed by Manav Thakkar at 60th. Whereas, in the mixed doubles, it is G Sathiyan and Manika who are at the 23rd position.
