Manika Batra showed immense comprusre, fight and character to down Margaryta Pesotkovam in her table tennis match at the Tokyo Olympics
After Mirabai Chanu had uplifted India’s mood with a silver medal on day one of the Tokyo Olympics, the country ardently awaited day 2. And with a string of worldclass players in action on Sunday, the day promised to make for intriguing viewing.
However, as the sun made a foray into the land, it brought with it a string of dejecting news for the country as well. India were defeated in tennis, men’s table tennis and had endured a haywire qualification campaign in the men’s and women’s 10m Air Rifle events.
After manifold haywire showings, the country was finally accorded some good news as Mary Kom won her round of 32 bout 4-1 to make it into the round of 16 of the 51kg flyweight boxing event. Manika Batra was envisaged to emulate her performance as she stepped out for her second contest of the games on Sunday.
Tokyo Olympics 2021 Live Day 2: Manika Batra Wins Match Against Margaryta Pesotkovam
After winning her opening match on Saturday, Manika came up against world number 20, Margaryta Pesotkovam of Ukraine. Despite the higher ranking, Manika was envisioned to put on a strong showing owing to her staggering skill set.
However, she dwindled right from the word go as Margaryta showcased her mettle to dominate Manika. Manika was downed in the opening couple of games, comprehensively outshone 4-11, 4-11 in them with a defeat looking impending for her.
However, it was from there on that Manika upped the ante to showcase her traits. She took the third and fourth games 11-7 and 12-10 before going onto seal the match in her favour by emerging victorious in the deciding game by 11-7.
Now that's a comeback!! 🤩
Indian paddler @manikabatra_TT stuns higher ranked Margaryta Pesotska 4-3 (4-11, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7) to advance further in women's singles!#Olympics | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion
— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) July 25, 2021
It was performance for the ages, a showing which was hailed across the country as Manika showed why she’s considered a serious medal contender at the Tokyo Olympics. She had on Saturday walked all over Britain’s Tin-Tin Ho in the women’s singles event as she won 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9.