Saudi Smash 2024: Manika Batra shocks World No. 2 to enter last 16, Desai and Ghorpade stun World No. 6 to make it to the quarterfinals

The Saudi Smash 2024 is underway at the Sports Hall King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The USD 2,000,000 tournament taking place from May 1 to May 11 saw the Indian paddlers pull off some spectacular wins on May 6.

India’s most experienced women’s singles star, Manika Batra, caused a massive upset when she got the better of World No. 2 Wang Manyu. The doubles pair of Yashaswini Ghorpade and Harmeet Desai also stunned the World No. 6 duo of Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles to book their place in the quarterfinals.

Asian Games medalists Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee also notched up a win to enter the last 16.

A closer look at the results of the Saudi Smash 2024 (Indians only)

India’s only remaining women’s singles paddler, Manika Batra, took on World No. 2 from China, Wang Manyu. After going down 6-11 in the first set, the Indian quickly changed her strategy and bounced back to clinch the next game 11-5. Building on her momentum, Batra went on to win the third game 11-7 before narrowly winning the fourth 12-10 to seal the match.

The final score of the 37-minute thriller was 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10. Batra will now face World No. 14 from Germany, Nina Mittelham, in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the mixed doubles category, the Indian pair of Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade took on Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles of Spain in the round of 16.

In what was yet another nail-biting encounter, the Indian pair made a remarkable comeback after going 1-2 down to win the match in five sets. The final scoreline of the match against the World No. 6 pair was 11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7. Desai and Ghorpade got the better of Chile’s Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega in a five-set battle in their first-round match.

India’s only representatives in the women’s doubles category, Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukherjee, took on Egypt’s Mariam and Marwa Alhodaby in their first-round encounter. The Indian duo took a mere 15 minutes to beat Mariam and Alhodaby 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 to enter the pre-quarterfinals. They will now face the pair of Kim Nayeong and Miyu Nagasaki.