Manika Batra-Archana Kamath assure India of medal at WTT Star Contender 2022

Manika Batra and Archana Kamath assured India of a medal by storming into the semi-finals of the WTT Star Contender Table Tennis tournament in Doha on Tuesday.

Batra and Kamath beat Hong Kong's Soo Wai Yam Minnie and Lee Ho Ching 3-1 (13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 13-11) in the quarter-finals.

The Indians managed to stave off stiff resistance from the Hong Kong duo in the first game on extended points. However, Minnie and Ching restored parity in the next.

The Indians then did exceedingly well to put themselves in the driver's seat by grabbing the next game. They held their nerves to clinch a tight fourth game to wrap up the match.

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Manika and Archana will take on Taipei’s Li Yu-Jhun and Cheng I-Ching in the semi-finals.

Manika Batra advances in singles, loses in mixed doubles

However, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran failed to go past the first round in mixed doubles. The Indians lost 1-3 (7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11) to Spaniards Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles.

In women's singles, Manika accounted for Germany’s World No. 26 Xiaona Shan 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 in the Round of 32.

Manika showed great character to come back strongly after the loss of the first game. She did not let the intensity dip in the third game and proved her mettle in the fourth game too as she held on courageously to win.

The Indian will take on German Ying Han, who is ranked No. 17, in the pre-quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Achanta Sharath Kamal lost his second-round match to Dang Qiu of Germany after leading 2-0. The German player of Chinese origin won 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7.