WTT Grand Smash Singapore | Manika Batra and G Sathiyan enter mixed doubles quarterfinals

03/14/2022

Manika Batra and Sathiyan got to the WTT Grand Smash Singapore 2022 table tennis event's mixed doubles quarterfinals on Sunday. In the round of 16, Batra and Sathiyan defeated Vitor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi of Brazil, both Tokyo Olympians, 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-1) in Singapore Sports Hub.

The Indian table tennis pairing, on the other hand, will have their work cut out for them if they are to reach the semifinals, as top seeds Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching await them in the top eight. Last year, the Chinese Taipei pair earned bronze medals in mixed doubles at both the world championships and the Tokyo Olympics.

In the women's singles main table tennis draw, Manika Batra and Archana Kamath progressed after receiving a bye in the round of 32. In the round of 32 of the men's doubles, India's G Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal came from behind to defeat Lin Yin-Ju and his partner Liao Cheng-Ting of Chinese Taipei.

Sathiyan and Kamal came back from a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2. (7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6). The Indians will next play Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon, the men's doubles silver medalists at the 2021 World Championships in South Korea. After Sharath Kamal, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Manika Batra departed the first round on Saturday, G Sathiyan is the only Indian remaining competing in the Singapore event.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran managed to beat Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koe and will be up against Lim Jonghoon in his next match, scheduled for Monday.