Montpellier: Star paddler Manika Batra crashed out of the WTT Champions in the quarterfinal after a straight-game defeat against China’s Qian Tianyi in Montpellier, France.
Ranked 30th in the world, the Indian succumbed to Tianyi with scores of 8-11, 8-11, 10-12 in a swift 25-minute match on Saturday night. Despite being a multiple Commonwealth Games medalist and putting up a strong fight in all three games, Batra was outplayed by her Chinese adversary in the critical points, leading to her defeat.
Batra made history as the first Indian to reach the WTT quarterfinals, having upset the world’s number 14, Bernadette Szocs of Romania, with scores of 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9 on Friday to advance to the last eight.
Tianyi also delivered a surprise in the pre-quarterfinals by defeating her compatriot, world No. 4 and top seed Yidi Wang, with scores of 11-7, 11-9, 13-11.
Tianyi is set to compete against the third-seeded Japanese player Miwa Harimoto in the semifinals on Sunday.
Sreeja Akula, another Indian in the WTT and ranked 25th globally, was ousted in the first round following a loss to the world’s number 13, Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, with scores of 6-11, 11-7, 11-1, 8-11, 11-8.
