Manika Batra has made table tennis history as she became the first Indian to qualify for quarter-finals at a WTT Champions event. Indian paddler Manika yesterday defeated Bernadette Szocs of Romania 3-1 in the round of 16 in Montpellier, France. Manika will next face China’s Qian Tianyi today.

Manika had also beaten the Romanian at the 2024 Paris Olympics earlier this year with a scoreline of 3-2. She had become the first table tennis player from India to reach the last 16 in the singles table tennis competition in an Olympics. Batra, a multiple Commonwealth Games medallist.

The other Indian in the fray in women’s singles, Sreeja Akula had lost 2-3 against world No. 13 Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico in the first round.