New Delhi: Manika Batra made history, becoming the first Indian paddler to finish the $200,000 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup Tournament with the bronze medal at the Hua Mak Indoor Stadium in Bangkok today.
In the bronze medal playoff match, World No. 44 defeated World No. 6 Hina Hayata of Japan 4-2 (11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 11-2) to achieve the incredible feat. Besides the bronze medal, Manika will also carry home $10,000 for her efforts.
“I am happy to win the bronze medal. This win is a huge one for me, defeating the top players. I enjoyed playing and fighting well against them to achieve a fantastic result. I will continue putting the extra yard in all my future tournaments. I expect all of you to extend your full support,” said an emotional Manika.
Earlier in the day, Manika lost 2-4 (8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 6-11, 11-8, 7-11) to the second-seeded Mima Ito in the semi-finals.
Despite the second-seed beginning shakily, the Japanese ended strongly and subdued the Indian player with a percentage play befitting her reputation and rankings.
Manika’s fighting qualities came to the fore in the fourth game of the bronze-medal playoff when she was down in the dumps, with the fourth-seed Hayata holding the upper hand with four-game points at 10-6.
That was when Manika launched herself, using all the tricks in her bag, attacking the flanks with crispy forehands, including some counters that brooked no challenge, and using the backhand punches to good effect and with precise placements.
At deuce, the Japanese had the service, but an unforeseen fault–Hayata’s service hit the net, and the ball dropped on her side to go down–enabled Manika to go up with a luck point (11-10) and complete the take winning point when she had the service back with her.
However, the Japanese ran with a good lead in the next to reduce the margin. But Manika changed her strategy in the sixth game, attacking from the word go and allowing her opponent the first point at 3-1. She claimed another point at 5-2, but that was all she could manage. With frustration setting in, the Japanese became more error-prone, unable to keep the ball on the table even as Manika went from strength to strength to finish the game 11-2.
On her way to the bronze medal, Manika upset World No. 7 Chen Xingtong from China in R-16, then accounted for World No. 23 and Chen Szu-Yu 4-3 of Taipei in the quarterfinals.
TTFI press release
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