Pune: Star Indian paddler Manika Batra stamped her authority with a dominating show against Hana Matelova of Puneri Paltan Table Tennis in a Sunday blockbuster of the ongoing IndianOil Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge-Balewadi in Pune.
Manika, India's highest-ranked player, thumped the Czech paddler 2-1 to register her third women's singles victory in season 4, powered by DafaNews, for Bengaluru Smashers.
The franchise-based league is promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani under the auspices of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
The World No. 35 showed immaculate control on her backends early on to win the first game 11-9 before Hana fought back brilliantly to clinch the second game 11-8 and took the match into the decider.
However, Manika held her nerves and pocketed the third game 11-6 as well as the match.
Earlier, World No. 58 Kirill Gerassimenko beat 2018 ITTF African-Cup champion Omar Assar 2-1 to give the Bengaluru franchise a perfect start.
The World No. 23 Omar began the first game in aggressive mode and targeted the flanks to win it by 11-8 before Kirill made an astonishing comeback to clinch the second game through a golden point. The third game also went to the golden point where the Kazak paddler showcased immense mental fortitude to take the game and match.
All the Season 4, powered by DafaNews, ties start at 7.30 PM with broadcast on Sports 18 and streamed on JioCinema. The tickets are available on BookMyShow.
