Commonwealth Games 2022 table tennis: Manika Batra progresses in singles and doubles
Manika Batra went through to the singles round of 16 and in the mixed doubles with G Sathiyan. Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan also advanced in the men’s doubles.
Indian stars Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sharath Kamal all notched wins at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, UK on Thursday.
The pair of Manika Batra/G Sathiyan advanced to the mixed doubles round of 16 after beating Seychelles pair Mick Crea/Laura Sinon 3-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-1) at the National Exhibition Centre.
Veteran Sharath Kamal and his partner Sreeja Akula also went through to the mixed doubles round of 16 after winning 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9) against England’s Owen Cathcart and Sophie Earley at Birmingham 2022.
Sharath and Sathiyan then teamed up in the men’s doubles to beat Guyana’s Joel Alleyne/Jonathan van Lange 3-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-6) and go through to the round of 16.
Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison all won their women’s singles round of 32 matches as well.
Reigning champion Manika Batra beat Canada’s Ching Nam Fu 4-0 (11-5, 11-2, 11-7, 11-6) while Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison won by 4-1 scorelines against Malaysian Karen Lyne and England’s Charlotte Bardsley respectively.
However, the pair of Reeth Tennison/Sanil Shetty exited CWG 2022 after losing 3-2 (6-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11) to Malaysia’s Wong Qi Shen/Tee Ai Xin.
Sanil Shetty did taste victory later as he teamed up with Harmeet Desai to beat Iosif Elia/Christos Savva of Cyprus 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-1) in the men’s doubles.