Cho Daeseong of Korea stunned World No. 1 Faz Zhendong of China in the men’s singles second round while Sutirtha Mukherjee and Manika Batra caused upsets to make it to the women’s singles pre-quarterfinal and keep India’s campaign alive in the the WTT Star Contender Goa 2023.
On a day that saw multiple upsets - including Manika and G. Sathiyan bowing out of the mixed doubles quarterfinal - Daeseong, Sutirtha and Manika starred at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium.
Daeseong, the southpaw ranked 193 and who made it to the main draw through the qualification rounds - sent World No. 1 Fan Zhendong of China packing in the round of 32 to register the biggest win of his career. Trailing 2-0, the Korean crusader came back to win the second round encounter 7-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 in 30 minutes.
Sutirtha then repeated the script by making short work of World No. 18 Jia Nan Yuan (FRA) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7. The Bengal girl who regained her mojo after a mediocre 2022 with the National Games continued her surge with an emphatic win in her maiden Star Contender appearance.
While all the other Indians, barring Sutirtha, fared miserably, Manika joined the party late in the evening by defeating Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, the World No. 14, in four games. Despite Diaz getting used to Manika’s long pimples and exposing her weakness in the third game, Manika’s aggressive instincts helped render Diaz’s forehand harmless. The Indian wrapped up the match 3-1.
Comments
SHARE