Manika Batra has become the first Indian woman table tennis player to enter the quarterfinals of an elite WTT event following her victory over world number 14 Nina Mittelham at the Grand Smash event in Jeddah.
Manika Batra went down fighting to Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico 3-4 in the round of 32 at the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban.
Veteran Sharath Kamal and world no. 24 Manika Batra will lead the Indian men's and women's squads respectively at the Paris Games, where the country will make its Olympic debut in team events.
Manika Batra shocked World No. 2 Wang Manyu of China to secure the biggest win of her singles career.
Indian ace Manika Batra's impressive run in the Paris Olympics came to an end in Paris on Wednesday with a 1-4 defeat at the hands of higher-ranked Japanese Miu Hirano in the women's singles pre-quarterfinals.
Commonwealth Games gold medalist Manika Batra said reading books, meditation, and watching TV series are some of the activities which is helping her spend time during the coronavirus enforced nationwide lockdown. The Indian table tennis star also stressed the importance of working on physical fitness and staying positive as the country continues to reel under the pandemic.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manika Batra progressed to the women's singles quarter-finals but veterans Sharath Kamal and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan crashed out.
India's tally to two medals with one silver and one bronze.
In the semi-finals, Manika will meet the winner of the match between Korea's Jeon Jihee and Japan's Mima Ito.
Manika, the highest ranked Indian in women's singles, got off to a flying start early in the first session, defeating 152nd ranked Englishwoman Ho Tin-Tin 3-0 (11-4,11-8,11-5).
Janendra Jain and Parth Goswami are the two lawyers in the panel while Yashpal Rana is the other member.
A rich talent pool of players promises a bright future for Indian table tennis despite the recent retirement of stalwart Sharath Kamal, said Dronacharya awardee coach Sandeep Gupta.
Can see growth, especially in women's table tennis in India: Manika Batra on UTT
Manika Batra was knocked out of the World Singles Olympic Qualification Tournament after she suffered a 1-4 defeat to Monaco's Xiaoxin Yang in the women's singles stage-I semi-final match in Doha on Monday.
Manika Batra's sensational run at the Commonwealth Games fetched her another medal on Sunday. Teaming up with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran she bagged the mixed doubles bronze, thereby winning a medal in every event she competed in at the Gold Coast Games .
'We both are really working hard, and, of course there are many things on which we are focussing right now, on and off the table.'
Manika Batra and Archana Kamath defeated Hungary's Dora Madarasz and Georgina Pota 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 in the women's doubles round of 16.
India's Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran tasted instant success on their return as a mixed doubles pairing by winning the title at the WTT Contender in Budapest on Friday.
Sathiyan and Batra defeated Thailand's Napat Thanmathikom and Suthasini Sawettabut 10-12, 11-8, 11-3, 11-8.
'Improvement is a continuous process and I am committed to it,' Manika Batra added.
The Indians had to make the 5-1 lead count in the first game to have any chance in the match but Lin and Cheng won eight points in a row to gain control.
Manika Batra could not be more thrilled about bossing the World No. 2 from China earlier this week but to beat the top-10 players more often, the Indian table tennis trailblazer knows she needs to do more on the tactical and fitness front.
Her personal coach Sanmay Paranjape was controversially cleared to travel with her to the Tokyo, but not allowed to stay at the Games Village with the national team.
The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on Tuesday termed Manika Batra's decision to not take the help of national coach Soumyadeep Roy during her matches at the Tokyo Olympics as a brazen 'act of indiscipline'.
Sumit storms into Thailand open boxing semi-finals
Batra will now take on Singapore's Jian Zeng in the last eight-clash later tonight.
India's biggest table tennis contingent ever has arrived at the Olympic Village, ready to make a mark in Paris.
40-year-old Sharath showed that age was just a number.
Star Indian paddler Manika Batra crashed out of the women's singles in the World Table Tennis Championships Finals after a first round defeat, while Sathiyan Gnanasekaran advanced to the second round in the men's singles, in Houston, on Wednesday.
After the highs of the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Manika Batra's career took a nosedive following the debacle at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
While Indian table tennis took giant strides in the year, a star too was born with Manika Batra pocketing as many as four medals including two historic gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Table tennis player Manika Batra, who will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this year, said that the accolade would spur her to bring more laurels for the country.
Justice Rekha Palli, who was hearing Batra's petition alleging that the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) was carrying out its selection processes in a non-transparent manner and targeting certain individuals such as herself, said that based on the committee's report, she would consider the issue of appointing an administrator to run the national sports body.
Mary Kom's winning start and Manika Batra's brilliant come-from-behind victory were the only bright spots in an otherwise gloomy day for India at Tokyo, observes Raj Kishore Mishra.
The Olympic table tennis tournament will take place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles from July 27 to August 10.
Manika Batra and Mouma Das made history by becoming the first Indian pair to reach the quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships in Dusseldorf, on Thursday.
Given a chance national women's table tennis champion Manika Batra is keen to get tips from her idol, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, ahead of her debut in next month's Rio Olympic Games.
Olympic medallists Manu Bhaker and Mirabai Chanu have joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to combat obesity, emphasizing the importance of healthy lifestyle choices.
Manika Batra, who has become toast of the nation after her sensational run at the Gold Coast Games, is hoping that she has done enough to spark a table tennis revolution in India like Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu did for badminton.
Manika Batra has absolutely got the fashion memo right.
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