DURBAN, May 23: Indian star Manika Batra blanked Singapore’s Wong Xin Ru to enter the round of 32 at the World Table Tennis Championships here on Tuesday.
World number 39 Manika had little difficulty in getting past her 171 ranked opponent for a 11-9, 14-12, 11-4, 11-8 victory in the second round.
With the outcome, Manika has ensured the best result for India in singles competition here. In men’s singles, Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan exited the tournament with defeats in the round of 64.
While Sharath lost on Monday, Sathiyan could not do much against the mighty world number nine Dang Qiu of Germany, losing 6-11, 6-11, 5-11, 7-11 on Tuesday.
Manika and Sathiyan play their mixed doubles round of 16 contest later on Tuesday.
Sharath and Sathiyan will play their men’s doubles pre-quarterfinal on Wednesday. (PTI)