Manika Batra stars in India’s win over Hungary

Manika Batra won both her singles matches as the Indian women’s team edged out Hungary 3-2 for its first win of the World Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday. However, the Indian men’s team suffered a 1-3 loss to Poland in its second group game. It was a fine comeback from Manika who had lost both her singles against China on Friday when India stood on the cusp of a mega upset before falling short 2-3. Manika, who is India’s top-ranked player at 36, had to dig deep against Dora Madaras in the opening singles before pulling off an 8-11, 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4 win on Sunday. Georgina Pota then levelled the tie with a 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8 result over Sreeja Akula in the second singles. Sreeja had stunned world number 2 Wang Yidi in the tournament opener. Ayhika Mukherkjee, the conqueror of world number one Sun Yinghsa on Friday, put India 2-1 up with a 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 win over Bernadett Balint. The contest was stretched into the decider when Madaras got past Sreeja 11-4, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7 in the fourth singles. Manika kept her composure in the all-important decider against Pota to complete an 11-5, 14-12, 13-11 win. India will play Spain and Uzbekistan in the remaining group games. With three wins in as many games, China are expected to top the group. In the men’s tie, Harmeet Desai was the only one to put it past Poland as he defeated Macie Kubik 12-10, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5 in the second singles. Sharath Kamal and Manav Thakkar lost their respective singles. Harmeet returned to play the fourth singles but couldn’t get the job done against Jakub Dyjas 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 12-14.