Manika first Indian woman to reach Asian Cup TT semifinals

Star paddler Manika Batra on Friday became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the Asian Cup Table Tennis tournament with a 4-3 win over higher ranked Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei here. World number 44 Manika beat Chen, ranked 23rd in the ITTF chart, 6-11 11-6 11-5 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-9 in a hard-fought women’s singles quarterfinals. The Indian ace had earlier shocked world No. 7 Chen Xingtong of China in a round of 16 match on Thursday. In the semifinals, Manika will meet the winner of the match between Jeon Jihee of Korea and Mima Ito of Japan.