NEW DELHI: Indian table tennis star Manika Batra showcased her skills as she defeated Singapore's Wong Xin Ru to secure a place in the round of 32 at the World Table Tennis Championships held in Durban on Tuesday.
Ranked 39th in the world, Manika faced little difficulty against her opponent, who is ranked 171st, and clinched a convincing 11-9, 14-12, 11-4, 11-8 victory in the second round.
With this win, Manika has already achieved the best result for India in the singles competition at the championships. However, in the men's singles category, both Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan exited the tournament after facing defeats in the round of 64.
Sharath, who had his match on Monday, bowed out of the tournament, while Sathiyan faced a tough challenge against the formidable world number nine, Dang Qiu of Germany. Sathiyan lost the match 6-11, 6-11, 5-11, 7-11 on Tuesday.
Later on Tuesday, Manika Batra and Sathiyan were scheduled to compete in the mixed doubles round of 16.
Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan will also participate in the men's doubles pre-quarterfinal match, set to take place on Wednesday.
(With inputs from PTI)
