Manika Batra created history by becoming the first Indian woman table tennis player to win a singles gold at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
World No. 58 Manika’s dream run in the quadrennial event continued as she blanked 50th-ranked Yu Mengyu of Singapore 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7) in a one-sided final. However, it was the semifinal win over World No. 4 Feng Tianwei that meant more for the 22-year-old.
The Delhi-based paddler showed that her crucial victory against multiple Olympic medallist Feng in the team final was no fluke as she edged out the mighty Singaporean 4-3 (12-10, 5-11, 11-8, 5-11, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11) in the semifinals.
The Indian foxed Feng for the second time in a row with smart use of her pimpled rubber for both defense and offense. Manika showed remarkable composure and maturity to overcome a 2-3 deficit in a high-pressure final.
This post was published on April 15, 2018 5:55 pm