Two Indian pairs reached the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston on Friday, with Manika Batra making it in both...
Two Indian pairs reached the quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston on Friday, with Manika Batra making it in both women’s and mixed doubles.
With losing semi-finalists getting bronze medals, the Indian pairs are one wins away from ensuring a place on the podium.
Batra and Archana Kamath, seeded tenth, beat Hungary’s Dora Madarasz and Georgina Pota in four games, winning 3-1 (11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7). They will now face Sarah de Nuette and Xia Lian Ni of Luxembourg, the world No 60 pair.
Batra then teamed up with G Sathiyan to clinch a thrilling fightback win over China’s Wang Manyu and USA’s Kanak Jha. The Indians came back from two games and match points down to win 3-2 (15-17, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7). Batra and Sathiyan will take on Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto from Japan, ranked No 20 in the world, next.
“I think our combination works really well. In the beginning we were a little nervous because this was our first time in this hall. After 0-2 I don’t know what happened to both of us as we played awesome. I think every Indian was cheering for us so thanks to everyone,” Batra was quoted as saying by World Table Tennis.
“The first game...
