Manika blanks Olympic and World C’ship medallist in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA (SLOVENIA), July 6: Indian table tennis star Manika Batra blanked world number 15 Chen I-ching to enter the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals at the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana here on Thursday.

World number 32 Manika took just 23 minutes to outplay her accomplished Chinese Taipei opponent 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 in a round of 32 match. Ching is an Olympic medallist in the mixed doubles category and has won multiple medals at Word Championships in doubles and team events. She is also a former world number five.

Manika next plays the winner of the match between Bernadette Szocs and Adria Diaz.The 28-year-old is the only Indian in the women’s singles draw. She had defeated Margaryta Pesotska of Ukraine in five games in her opening round. (PTI)