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 in Busan on Sunday.
It was a fine comeback from Manika who had lost both her singles against China on Friday when India stood on the side 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.
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 now play Spain and Uzbekistan in the remaining group games. With three wins in as many games, China is 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.