Paris 2024 Olympics table tennis: Manika Batra stuns local favourite Prithika Pavade to storm into pre-quarterfinals :- After beating France’s Prithika Pavade in the round of 32 on Monday, India’s Manika Batra moved on to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles table tennis event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Paris 2024 Olympics table tennis: Manika Batra stuns local favourite Prithika Pavade to storm into pre-quarterfinals
After convincingly defeating Prithika Pavade of France in the round of 32 of the table tennis women’s singles competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Monday, Manika Batra of India moved to the pre-quarterfinals stages of the competition.
It was at the South Paris Arena 4 in the French city that Manika Batra, who is rated 28th in the world, defeated Pavade, who is ranked 18th in the world, by a score of 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).
“It was the best match, playing against a French player in France and winning was amazing,” Manika stated to reporters. Since Prithika has a higher rank than I am, I am really pleased with the fact that I was able to prevail over her. When it came to playing with her, I was fully prepared.
In the first game, the two players went head-to-head, and the score was 8-8 before Manika took the initiative to gain the lead. As the Indian continued to ride the momentum, they went on to win the second game with relative ease, and then they sprinted to a 10-4 lead in the third game.
Despite the fact that Pavade, who is 19 years old, was able to save five game points, Batra took a break and then came back to extend her lead to 3-0. Through a display of devastating backhands, Manika was able to finish the match without any problems taking place.
In the following match, the Indian table tennis player will compete against either Zhu Chengzhu, who hails from Hong Kong, China, or Miu Hirano, who is ranked seventh internationally.
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Prior to that, Manika had advanced to the round of 32 by virtue of her victory over Anna Hursey of Great Britain, who is ranked 103rd in the world.
Sreeja Akula, who is making her Olympic debut, will, on Wednesday, attempt to join her fellow countrywoman Manika in the round of 16.
After defeating Christina Kallberg of Sweden, who is ranked 58th in the world, by a score of 4-0 in the round of 64, the 25th-ranked Akula is now due to face Zeng Jian of Singapore in the round of 32 on Monday.
On Sunday, Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai were eliminated from the men’s singles competition, which resulted in the early termination of India’s effort in the competition.
At Paris 2024, India will also compete in the team competitions that will be held there. In the first round of competition, the Indian men’s team, which includes Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar, will engage in a challenging match against the People’s Republic of China, who have won the tournament four times.
The first match will be played against Romania, and the women’s team, which consists of Manika, Sreeja, and Archana Kamath, has been selected to compete against Romania.
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