Manika Batra’s journey ends with bronze medal in Asian Cup Table Tennis

Bangkok. Star table tennis player Manika Batra’s dream run at the Asian Cup table tennis tournament came to an end after going down to fourth seed Mima Ito of Japan in the semi-finals here on Saturday. Unseeded Manika became the first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of this continental tournament.

 

She went down 8-11 11-7 7-11 6-11 11-8 7-11 (2-4) to the world number five table tennis player. World No. 44 Manika had defeated her higher-ranked Chen Hsu Yu of Chinese Taipei 4-3 in the quarterfinals. Manika has secured the record for the best performance by an Indian in the 39-year history of the Asian Cup.

 

Earlier in 2015, Achanta Sharath Kamal and in 2019, G Sathiyan had finished sixth. The top Indian player had earlier upset world number seven Chen Jingtong of China. The $200,000 prize pool is being contested by the top 16 players from across the continent in men’s and women’s categories based on world rankings and qualification.