Manika Batra, a star Indian table tennis player, won the bronze medal at the ongoing ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup tournament on Saturday, becoming the first Indian female paddler to do so.
She defeated World number six and three-time Asian champion Hina Hayata 4-2 in the bronze medal match.
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She is the top-ranked female table tennis player in India as of November 2020, and she was ranked 50th in the world as of March 2022. In 2020, she received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna.
India is shining in sports!
Manika Batra creates history by becoming the 1st ever Indian female paddler to win a medal at the prestigious Asian Cup Table Tennis Championship! She defeated World No 6 and 3 times Asian Champion Hina Hayata !!
Congratulations @manikabatra_TT 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/lFH5uc4i1G— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) November 19, 2022
Batra defeated her opponent with scores of 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 11-2.
She had previously lost to Mima Ito in the semifinals by a score of 2-4. (8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 6-11, 11-8, 7-11). Despite her defeat, she competed in and won the bronze medal match.
On Thursday, Batra won a stunning match against World No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China in the first round of the ongoing Asian Cup 2022 tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.
World No. 44 Batra defeated the fourth-seeded table tennis player 4-3 at the Huamark Indoor Stadium (8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9).
She then qualified for the quarterfinals. She qualified for the semifinals by defeating Chen Szu-Yu of Taiwan in the quarterfinals 4-3 (6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9).
Manika Batra creates history by becoming the first ever Indian female paddler to win a medal at Asian Cup Table Tennis Tennis tournament. She won a Bronze medal in style by beating World No. 6 & 3 time Asian Champion Hina Hayata 4-2 in Bronze medal bout. pic.twitter.com/WCsJ44XRy7
— ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2022
The current Asian Cup is being held at Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 17 to November 19.
Manika Batra won silver in the under-21 category of the Chile Open in 2011. She competed for India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, finishing in the quarterfinals, as well as the 2014 Asian Games. At the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, she won three medals: silver in the women’s team event (with Ankita Das and Mouma Das), bronze in the women’s doubles event (with Ankita Das), and bronze in the women’s singles event.