WTT Contender: Manika Batra and Archana Girish clinch women's doubles title

Indian pair of Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath won the women’s doubles title at the World Table Tennis Contender Lasko 2021 event, beating Puerto Rico’s Diaz sisters, Adriana and Melanie, in three games in the final on Sunday. The World No. 36 pairing beat the 23rd -ranked combined of Melanie Diaz and Adriana Diaz 11-3 11-3 12-10. The duo saved four game points in the third set to secure the victory.

Manika and Archana reached the final by defeating China’s Liu Weishan and Wang Yidi in the semi-finals on Saturday. In the semi-final encounter, the Indian duo had to dig deep against the Chinese pair as the game went down to the fifth set. In the end, Manika and Archana defeated the Chinese pair 11-6 8-11 11-6 5-11 11-8.

“I am very happy to have won this title…it was fun playing throughout as I always enjoy playing doubles with Manika Di. She is playing really well and has a very strong presence on the table which allows me to play freely,” Archana told PTI.

Manika had an impressive run in the women’s singles category as well, she reached the semi-finals. The Indian settled for bronze in Lasko as she went down fighting to China’s Wang Yidi by 2-4 in the semi-final clash.

Playing at Table 1 of Sports Hall tri Lilije, Wang Yidi defeated Manika 11-7 7-11 13-11 10-12 11-7 11-5.