WTT Championships 2023: Sathiyan-Manika duo, Sreeja enter second round

The Indian mixed doubles pair of G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra, seeded fourth, entered the second round of the World table tennis championships in Durban on Saturday.

India’s Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in action. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Indian mixed doubles pair of G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra, seeded fourth, entered the second round of the World table tennis championships in Durban on Saturday, with a hard-fought 9-11, 11-8, 14-16, 11-7, 11-6 victory over the Luxembourg duo of Luka Mladenovic and Xia Lian Ni.

The women’s doubles pair of Manika Batra and Archana Kamath, too, reached the second round, defeating Emily Quan & Yishiua Lin of USA 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-5.

Sreeja Akula produced a near-flawless performance to beat a higher-ranked paddler Nicole Arlia of Italy 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5 in the women’s singles first round. However, Manush Shah and Sutirtha Mukherjee lost in the singles.

India’s top singles stars, G. Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will play their matches on Sunday.

The results (first round):

Men’s singles: Cho Seungmin (Kor) bt Manush Shah 11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-5.

Women: Singles: Tatiana Kukulkova (Svk) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 3-11, 4-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8; Sreeja Akula bt Nicole Arlia (Ita) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5; Doubles: Manika Batra & Archana Kamath bt Emily Quan & Yishiua Lin (USA) 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-5.

Mixed doubles: G. Sathiyan & Manika Batra bt Luka Mladenovic & Xia Lian Ni (Lux) 9-11, 11-8, 14-16, 11-7, 11-6.