Manika Batra Becomes 1st Indian Woman To Reach Asia Cup TT Semifinals

World No. 44 Manika defeated higher-ranked, World No. 7, Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei 4–3 in the quarterfinals to attain one of the biggest wins in her career.

Manika defeated Chen 4-3 in a hard-fought seven-set at women's singles quarterfinals match. ( Image Source :Manika Batra / Twitter )

India's star paddler player Manika Batra, Friday, became the first Indian woman to storm into semifinals of the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup table tennis tournament in Bangkok. World No. 44 Manika defeated higher-ranked, World No. 23, Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei 4–3 in the quarterfinals to attain one of the biggest wins in her career. Manika defeated Chen 6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9 in a hard-fought seven-set match at women's singles quarterfinals. Notably, Manika is the second Indian after Chetan Baboor to advance to Asian Cup semi-final. Earlier on Thursday, Manika had defeated world No. 7 Chen Xingtong in the round of 16. 

In Asian Cup table tennis tournament semi-final, Manika will lock horns with the winner of match between Korea's Jeon Jihee and Japan's Mima Ito. 

After her historic win, Manika took to Twitter and wrote, “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."

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

Meanwhile, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the other top-ranked Indian paddler participating in the Asia Cup, had a disappointing day. 

Sathiyan, world No.39, faced a defeat against Japanese Yukiya Uda 3-4 (9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 6-11) in his Round of 16.

Earlier this year, Manika Batra had participated in Birmingham Commonwealth Games, but had been knocked out in the quarter-finals after a defeat to Singapore’s Jian Zeng. 

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