Table Tennis
WTT Star Contender London: Manika Batra stuns world no.12 Shi Xunyao
With this victory, Manika progressed to her second quarterfinal appearance on the circuit in one year.
Manika Batra advanced to the quarterfinals of WTT Star Contender London 2025. (Photo credit: UTT)
Manika Batra continued her good form to reach the quarterfinals of the WTT Star Contender London 2025 in Copper Box Arena, England, on Saturday.
The star Indian paddler defeated the world no.12 Shi Xunyao of China, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9 in a 37-minute contest to reach her second quarterfinal on the circuit in one year.
After having a bye in the first round, Manika began her competition with a 3-2 win against Maria Xiao of Spain before knocking out Shi in the Round of 16.
She will now wait for the winner of Shin Yubin of South Korea and Cheng-I-Ching in the quarterfinals, hoping to reach a Star Contender semi-final for the first time.
Manav and Harmeet bow out in R16
On the other hand, India had a disappointing day in men's singles as both Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai lost their respective pre-quarterfinal matches to German players.
Harmeet suffered a straight-game loss to Kay Stumper, 3-11, 5-11, 6-11, while Indian ace Manav Thakkar put up a valiant effort but fell short to Dang Qiu, 11-13, 10-12, 6-11.
With this, the Indian campaign is over in the men's singles, and Manika Batra remains the only Indian player in the quarterfinals.
