Hungarian Open: Manika Batra upsets world No.26 Chen Szu-Yu

Indian paddlers continue their excellent run of form in the tournament.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist India’s Manika Batra delivered a stunning performance as she defeated World No. 26 Chen Szu-Yu to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the 2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open.

Currently, placed at 67th position in the ITTF world rankings, 24-year-old Manika Batra had to hold her nerves to beat Chen 4-3 (9-11, 4-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-7, 14-12) in a nail-biting encounter at the Olympic Hall.

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This win was not easy for the Indian qualifier as she fought back having lost the first three games. She faced a match-point in the fourth game before making a stunning comeback. Her 11th seeded Chinese Taipei opponent left shell-shocked in the last four games. Batra will now face World No. 11 Hirano Miu next in her quest for a quarter-final berth.

In Men’s category, India No. 1 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran also made it to the pre-quarter-finals with a 4-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2) drubbing of World No. 61 Noshad Alamiyan of Iran. World No.30 Sathiyan was brilliant against Alamiyan and will take on World No. 5 Harimoto Tomokazu of Japan in the Round of 16.

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Sathiyan will also be in contention for a semi-final berth in men's doubles as he and his partner Achanta Sharath Kamal face Hungary's World No. 132 Adam Szudi and World No. 142 Nandor Ecseki in the quarter-finals.

Manika and Sharath Kamal, meanwhile, have got a walk-over into the mixed doubles semi-finals and will now take on the German combination of Patrick Franziska and Petrissa Solja.