File photo of Manika Batra.© AFP
India’s table tennis star Manika Batra produced a dominant performance to defeat America’s Lily Zhang 3-0 to advance into the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the WTT Champions at Montpellier in France on Wednesday. Manika, who made history in Paris Olympics to become the first-ever Indian to reach the singles pre-quarterfinals, took less than 22 minutes to cruise to a 11-4, 11-8, 12-10 victory. The four-time Olympian Zhang, who also had a pre-quarterfinal finish in Paris, fought hard to come back in the third game but Manika’s consistency and precision saw her through.
The Indian won a total of 34 points, compared to Zhang’s 22 and she was especially strong on her opponent’s serve, winning 14 points off the Chinese-American.
Manika will face the winner of eighth seeded Romanian Bernadette Szocs and Orawan Paranang of Thailand.
Sreeja Akula is the second Indian in the main draw and she will take on Pan American champion Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico later in the day.
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