Manika from India Surprises Table Tennis World No. 2 Wang Manyu, Advances to Saudi Smash Pre-Quarters.

Indian table tennis star Manika Batra caused a major upset by defeating China's world number 2 player, Wang Manyu, securing the most significant win of her singles career and advancing to the pre-quarterfinals of the Saudi Smash on May 6th.

In just 37 minutes, Manika defeated the second-seeded Chinese player with scores of 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10.

Despite starting with a loss in the opening game against the Tokyo Olympics team gold medalist, Manika, ranked 39th globally, bounced back strongly to win the next two games comfortably. 

Her 25-year-old Chinese opponent, the 2021 World Champion, stayed competitive throughout the match, not giving Manika any additional chances. Eventually, she secured the last two points to secure an impressive victory.

Unseeded Manika, who had previously defeated Andreea Dragoman of Romania, is set to face 14th-ranked Nina Mittelham of Germany in the round of 16. 

Although Manika has defeated top-10 players before, her victory over Wang Manyu is especially meaningful and stands out as one of her most cherished achievements in recent times.

Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade pulled off an upset in the mixed doubles, defeating the fifth-seeded Spanish pair of Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 3-11, 11-7,11-7) to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Earlier in the pre-quarters, the Indian duo had triumphed over the Chilean pair of Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-5).

Indian table tennis enthusiasts had a mixed day at Jeddah, with Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukherjee securing a victory over Mariam and Marwa Alhodaby with a score of 3-0 (11-7, 1-3, 11-4) to advance to the pre-quarters as Asian Games bronze medallists. 

However, Sreeja Akula, ranked 38th globally, suffered a defeat against Jieni Saho, losing 7-11, 11-3, 11-9, 12-14 after initially leading in two games.

In other singles matches, Indians like A. Sharath Kamal, Archana Kamath, Manav Thakkar, and Sutirtha Mukherjee fought bravely but ultimately lost. Sharath, facing Aruna Qadri of Nigeria in the round of 64, showed a gutsy performance but fell short after leading 2-0, with Qadri winning 8-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5, 13-11.