The World No.20 Margaryta Pesotska of Ukraine was defeated by Indian paddler Manika Batra in the second round of the women’s singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Having lost the first two games of the match 4-11, 4-11, Batra came back to win two more games in a row and go onto win 4-3 to advance to the next round of women’s singles. Her second-round match against the higher-seeded Ukrainian was off to a slow start as the 26-year-old committed unforced errors from the start. The fourth game was a gruelling battle between Pesotska and the Indian, who had to endure longer rallies than normal due to the Ukrainian’s force. Batra won after forcing 10-10 having initially lost the lead after a marathon rally of 43 shots. Ultimately, she was successful with a score of 12-10.
Having swept past Batra in exactly eight minutes, the Ukrainian showed further class in game five. In the sixth game, the Ukrainian led 4-1 and it looked like she would seal the match. Following a time-out, Batra took control of the match, allowing the Ukrainian only one point before cruising to an 11-5 victory and forcing a decider.
After an 11-7 final game win, the Indian won a spot in the third round at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s singles event. As a possible opponent, Batra may be joined by Sutirtha Mukherjee, who also won the first round of the women’s singles matches on the opening day of the games.
