Manika Batra upsets Bernadette Szocs, reaches WTT Champions quarterfinals in Montpellier

Montpellier: Manika Batra delivered a stunning performance to defeat World No. 14 Bernadette Szocs and advance to the quarterfinals of the WTT Champions event in Montpellier, France, on Friday night.

Ranked 30th in the world, Batra clinched a 3-1 victory (11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9) in a tightly contested round of 16 match that lasted 29 minutes against the eighth-seeded Romanian.

In the third game, the Indian star saved two game points. Facing a 4-7 deficit in the fourth game, Szocs called for a time-out. Nonetheless, Batra thwarted a late surge from the 29-year-old Romanian and converted her second match point, thus moving ahead with a 6-5 lead in their head-to-head tally.

Previously, Batra had also triumphed over Szocs during India’s 3-2 victory in the pre-quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics. Batra, who etched her name in history as the first player from her country to reach the singles round of 16 at the Olympics, is set to face China’s Qian Tianyi on Saturday.

World No. 21 Qian Tianyi caused an upset by defeating the top seed and fellow Chinese player Wang Yidi 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 13-11) in their round of 16 encounter.

Batra kicked off her campaign with a commanding 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 12-10) win against Lily Zhang from the USA.

Meanwhile, Sreeja Akula, another Indian contender, was narrowly defeated 3-2 (6-11, 11-7, 11-1, 8-11, 11-8) by World No. 13 Adriana Diaz from Puerto Rico in the opening round.