Asian Cup 2022 | Manika Batra stuns world No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China in first round
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Manika Batra, the top-ranked female table tennis player in India, shocked Chen Xingtong of China on Thursday in the opening round of the Asian Cup 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. Batra, ranked 44th in the world, upset the fourth-seeded player 4-3 (8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9).
Batra gained an 8-3 lead and appeared to be on track when the match went into a decider. Chen used her expertise to tie the game at 9-9, but two consecutive mistakes from her cost Manika Batra one of the biggest victories of her career.
In the second round on Friday, Manika Batra will now take on Chinese Taipei's Chen Szu-Yu, who is ranked 23rd in the world. In the men's singles, world No. 39 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and 44th-ranked Sharath Kamal, both Indian contenders, were eliminated after losing in the first round.
After falling behind 2-0, Sathiyan fought back against Japanese world No. 26 Yukiya Uda to tie the match at 3-3. However, he ultimately met his demise in the decisive game, dropping the match 4-3. (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 9-11,11-6, 10-12, 11-6). Later that day, world No. 16 Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei was defeated by Commonwealth Games winner Sharath Kamal, who won the opening game, 4-1. (11-7, 4-11, 7-11, 4-11, 6-11).
Men's and women's singles competitions are part of the three-day table tennis tournament, which will end on November 19. Chetan Baboor is the only player from India to have won a medal in table tennis at the Asian Cup, taking home silver in 1997 and bronze in 2000.
