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29-year-old Indian paddler, Manika Batra on Monday, July 29 etched her name into history books as she became the first-ever Indian to reach the pre-quarterfinals at the Olympics in table tennis. The Indian medal prospect registered a commanding 4-0 win over World No. 18 and home favourite, Prithika Pavade to enter the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals.
Batra dominated from start over her French opponent, registering win with a scoreline of 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 and 11-7 to advance to the next stage of the tournament. It is to be noted that Manika had reached the Round of 32 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and then crashed out of the tournament. But on Monday, she bettered her last performance.
I will take it match by match and give my best: Batra after win over France's Prithika Pavade
“I am happy that I beat a French player in Paris. I defeated a higher-ranked player. I did not think of creating history and making the pre-quarters, there are more rounds, I will take it match by match and give my best as I always do,” Manika told PTI after her win over Prithika Pavade.
“I had planned to play to her forehand as discussed with my coach but I was getting the points on her backhand, so I did not change the tactics. I did play a few shot on her forehand too, I did not want her to think that I am playing only on her backhand,” she continued while highlighting on her moves against her French opponent.
The 29-year-old Indian paddler will next on the winner of the match between Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzu and Japan’s Miu Hirano. Whereas, her compatriot, Sreeja Akula, who defeated Sweden’s Christina Kallbery in her opening match 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 and 11-8 in 28 minutes, will take on her next opponent on Wednesday, July 31.
