On Monday, India, led by Manika Batra, secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the women’s table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Romania.
Despite facing a higher-ranked opponent, the Indian team emerged triumphant, advancing to the next stage of the competition.
The match saw India take an early 2-0 lead, but Romania fought back to level the score at 2-2. In the decisive match, Manika Batra delivered a crucial win for her team.
India will face either the USA or Germany in the quarterfinals, with Japan, Poland, France, and Thailand also competing in the same bracket.
The encounter began with Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath securing an 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 victory over Adina Diaconu and Elizabeta Samara in the doubles match.
Manika Batra then dominated higher-ranked Bernadette Szocs, winning 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, to give India a comfortable 2-0 lead against the fourth-seeded Romanians.
However, in the second singles match, Sreeja Akula lost 2-3 to European champion Samara despite winning the first game.
This defeat set the stage for a clash between Archana Kamath and Bernadette Szocs. Bernadette won the first game 11-5, but Archana leveled the match by taking the second game 11-8. Nevertheless, Bernadette clinched the next two games 11-7, 11-9, sending the match to a decider.
Last week, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula made history by becoming the first Indian table tennis players to reach the round of 16 in the individual event at the Olympics.
Unfortunately, both players were defeated by higher-ranked opponents. Earlier this week, Sreeja Akula lost 0-4 to world number one Yingsha Sun of China in the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles.