Asian Cup 2022 table tennis: Manika Batra upsets world number seven Chen Xingtong, reaches second round

India's Manika Batra pulled off a major upset in the Asian Cup 2022 table tennis by defeating world number seven Chen Xingtong of China in a seven-game clash in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday.

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With this win, Manika has entered the second round of the Asian Cup 2022 table tennis. She will face world No. 23 Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei in the next round. World No. 44 Manika defeated Chen by 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9. This was her third win over a Chinese player in a short span of time.

In the Round of 16 match, Manika produced a brilliant performance to beat the third seed from China 4-3. Manika was getting full support from the audience in Thailand and this Indian player did not disappoint them either. After the match stretched into the decider, Batra took an 8-3 lead and seemed to be on course. Though Chen used her experience to level the scores at 9-9. But two back-to-back errors from her handed Manika Batra one of the biggest wins of her career.

At the same time, in the men's singles, world No. 39 paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran went down in a seven-game clash against fifth seed Yukiya Uda of Japan. While India's national champion Sharath Kamal also bowed out after losing in the first round. Yukiya Uda defeated Sathiyan by 4-3 (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 9-11,11-6, 10-12, 11-6). At the same time, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Sharath Kamal was defeated by Chinese Taipei's Chuang Chih-Yuan 4-1 (11-7, 4-11, 7-11, 4-11, 6-11).

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However, three-day table tennis competition, comprising men's and women's singles events will conclude on November 19.