Bangkok (Thailand), Nov 18 (PTI): 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.