India’s poster-girl in Table Tennis, Manika Batra, etched history as she became the first Indian table tennis player to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Paris Olympics 2024. Manika Batra defeated France’s Prithika Pavade in 4-0 straight sets in front of an electrifying crowd extending their support to Pavade.
The scorelines of the matches were 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 and 11-7 and Manika Batra ensured that she exercises her dominant muscles in this game and qualifies to the next round.
While the Indian from Delhi is ranked 28th in the world, France’s Prithika Pavade is ranked 18th and this further explains why this is a fantastic victory for the Indian paddler.
“It was the best match, playing against a French player in France and winning was amazing. I’m really happy that I won against Prithika because she has a higher rank than me… I was well prepared to play with her,” said Manika Batra post the game.
Manika Batra had earlier outclassed Great Britain’s Anna Hursey in the Round of 64 clash, 4-1 and had dropped just one set. She is looking extremely lethal in both the games and would be looking to etch history by going to the quarter finals.
The 29-year-old paddler will be locking horns with the winner of the game between Hong Kong China’s Zhu Chengzhu and Japan’s Miu Hirano.
Sreeja Akula in Round of 64
Sreeja Akula has a solid chance of joining forces with Manika Batra in the Round of 32 in women’s singles event after her 4-0 crushing defeat against Sweden’s Christina Kallberg. The 25-year-old table tennis player will now be facing Zang Jian of Singapore in the Round of 32.
India’s campaign in the men’s singles event hasn’t been fruitful as both Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai have been knocked out of the tournament.
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