Three other Indian women paddlers Diya Chitale, Reeth Tennison, and Swastika Ghosh didn't have a great day in the singles category as they crashed out of the tournament which is serving as a qualifying stage for the World Championships
Manika Batra. Pic/PTI
Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula reached the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian WTTC Continental Stage at the Lusail Sports Complex, on Tuesday.
India's national champion Sreeja stunned World No. 21 Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei to reach the pre-quarterfinals. After being down 3-1, Sreeja rallied from behind, brought the best game from her kitty to overcome the seasoned campaigner and register the biggest upset of the tournament.
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Joining her to the next stage was Manika, who coasted to an easy 4-0 win over her Hong Kong opponent.
Three other Indian women paddlers Diya Chitale, Reeth Tennison, and Swastika Ghosh didn't have a great day in the singles category as they crashed out of the tournament which is serving as a qualifying stage for the World Championships.
The wins kept Manika and Sreeja's hopes alive of making it to the Worlds to be held in Durban, South Africa in May 2023.
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Sreeja, ranked 72 on the ITTF World Ranking computer, overcame a 3-1 deficit to register her biggest career win till winning it 4-3 (11-2, 5-11, 2-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-8) in a match which lasted for 52 minutes.
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad city started off on an impressive note winning the first game but then flattered as her opponent won the next three to take a runaway 3-1 lead.
Sreeja, however, made a remarkable recovery to win the fifth, sixth and deciding game in the seven-game encounter much to the delight of the small but vociferous supporters in the stands. She now will take on Miyu Nagasaki of Japan, who got a walkover over Chinese Taipei's Cheng I-Ching.
On the other hand, India's top ranked player and World No.35, Manika got the better of Zhu Chengzhu in straight games 4-0 (13-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8) and move into the round of 16 where she will clash with Suthasini Sawettabut of Thailand who got the better of Jingyi Zhou of Singapore 4-1 (11-2, 4-11, 11-6,11-4, 11-7).
Three other Indian women paddlers fell out in the round of 32 with Diya, Reeth and Swastika crashing out after losing to Japanese and Korean opponents.
Diya went down 1-4 (11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3) to Miu Hirano of Japan, while Reeth lost in straight games 0-4 (11-7, 11-5, 11-4, 11-3) to HIna Hayata of Japan. Swastika went down to Jihee Jeon of Korea also in straight games 0-4 (11-8, 11-7, 11-6, 11-5).
In the men's singles round of 32 matches, Manush Utpal Shah and Harmeet Desai lost their respective matches and crashed out. Harmeet lost in straight games 0-4 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7) to Zhendong Fan of China and Manush went down also in straight games 4-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5) to Jonghoon Lim of Korea.
Achanta Sarath Kamal will take on Amin Ahmadian of Iran, later in the day.
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