Montpellier (France): In a landmark achievement for Indian table tennis, Manika Batra has become the first Indian player to reach the top eight in a WTT Champions tournament.
Manika's historic journey at the WTT Champions Montpellier 2024 came to a close on Saturday when she faced off against China’s Qian Tianyi in the quarterfinals, suffering a 3-0 defeat (11-8, 11-8, 12-10).
The WTT Champions series, which launched two years ago, showcases the top 32 male and female players from around the globe, competing for substantial prize money and valuable ranking points. Manika, currently ranked 30th in the world, made headlines with her impressive performance throughout the tournament.
She kicked off her campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory (11-4, 11-8, 12-10) over the USA's Lily Zhang. The standout moment came on Friday when she upset world No. 14 Bernadette Szocs of Romania with a 3-1 victory (11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9). This was particularly noteworthy, as Manika had previously defeated Szocs 3-0 during India’s 3-2 win over Romania in the women’s team event at the Paris 2024 Olympics earlier this year.
In the quarterfinals, however, Manika encountered a formidable opponent in world No. 21 Qian Tianyi, who had just achieved a stunning upset over top seed and world No. 4 Wang Yidi, defeating her 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 13-11) in the round of 16.
Manika's compatriot, Sreeja Akula, who is currently the highest-ranked Indian singles player at world No. 25, experienced an early exit after falling to world No. 13 Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico in a tightly contested first-round match, ending 3-2 (6-11, 11-7, 11-1, 8-11, 11-8).
Notably, there were no Indian competitors in the men's singles draw at the WTT Champions Montpellier 2024.
As Manika returns home, her groundbreaking achievement marks a significant milestone in Indian table tennis history, inspiring future generations of players.