Table Tennis Asian Cup 2022: Manika Batra created history on Saturday as she clinched a stunning bronze medal finish at the Asian Games. Facing World No.6 Hina Hayata in the semis, Batra put in a performance of the highest order, clinching a 4-2 success. She becomes the first Indian women to clinch a Asain Cup medal and the second Indian after Chetan Baboor. Follow Table Tennis Asian Cup 2022 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Table Tennis Asian Cup 2022 Highlights: Manika Batra CREATES History, becomes FIRST Indian woman to clinch Bronze medal in Asian Cup, beats Hina Hayata 4-2 – Watch Highlights
Former men’s singles player Chetan Baboor is the only Indian table tennis player to win a medal at the Asian Cup. He clinched silver in 1997 and bronze in 2000. Manika has now joined the list with her bronze medal finish on Saturday, in a dream run for the Indian female paddler.
Batra pulled off one upset after another to finish on the podium in a stunning performance. The 27-year-old knocked out World no.7 Chen Xingtong, World No 23 Chen Szu-Yu and World No.6 Hina Hayata on her way to the bronze. She fell short to Wang Yidi (World no.5) earlier on Saturday and had to fight for the bronze.
@manikabatra_TT creates history by winning a bronze 🥉 medal at Asia Cup.On her route to bronze medal she defeats 🇨🇳 Chen Xingtong,Tapie Chen Szu Yu,gave tough fight to Mima Ito and then in 🥉 medal match she defeats Hina Hayata of 🇯🇵.#ManikaBatra #AsiaCupTableTennis pic.twitter.com/SsPHxFfqJI
— Badminton Fan Page (Aakash Joshi) (@page_aakash) November 19, 2022
The Indian paddler started the tournament by registering a stunning victory against World No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China. She won the first-round contest 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinal. She followed it up with a win over World no 23 Chen Szu Yu on Friday, beating her 4-3 (6-11 11- 6 11-5 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-9) in a hard-fought women’s singles quarterfinals.
On Saturday, Batra charge for gold ended when she succumbed to a 4-2 defeat to World No.5 Mima Ito. She however managed to finish on the podium beating Hayata 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 11-2.
