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India’s rising duo Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra defeated home top choices Nandor Ecseki and Dora Madarasz 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6 to secure the mixed doubles title at World Table Tennis Tour Contender Budapest 2021 on Friday.
Sathiyan and Manika had raged into the last with an 11-6,11-5,11-4 success over Aleksandr Khanin and Daria Trigolos of Belarus. The Indian pair paralyzed the World No. 7 and top-seeded pair of Barbora Balazova and Lubomir Pistej from Slovakia 11-4, 3-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 in the quarterfinals and to enter pre-quarters, they improved of comrades Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath 3-0.
It was a noteworthy success for Manika and Sathiyan, who don’t play a lot of mixed doubles as one pair. They started their excursion at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.
Manika Batra additionally combined with veteran Sharath Kamal at Jakarta Asian Games around the same time. In the two events, India had won bronze. Manika went to the as of late closed Tokyo2020 Olympic Games with Sharath however returned without a medal.
They both have now collaborated again following three years with the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the following year’s Asian Games and Commonwealth Games as a primary concern.
In the women’s singles elimination rounds, Manika Batra, seeded sixth and World No. 60, was expelled by European youth hero of Russia Elizabet Abraamian, 12-10, 11-9, 12-10, 10-8. The highest level Indian beat Italy’s Giorgia Piccolin 12-10, 11-13, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8 to enter the quarterfinals where she crushed comrade Sreeja Akula 7-11, 11-1, 8-11, 13-11,11-6.
In pre-quarterfinals, Sreeja positioned 150th on the planet, posted 11-9, 11-6, 13-11 win over World No. 53 Barbora. In the meantime, Archana Kamath, another Indian in the conflict, bowed out to Russia’s Mariia Tailakova 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.
In the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals, World No. 39 Sathiyan saw an early leave when he lost to World No. 102 Niagol Stoyanov of Italy 12-10, 11-7, 12-10, 19-17.
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