WTT Contender Budapest 2021: Sathiyan and Manika Batra enter semi-finals in first competition in 3 years as a pair

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra entered the semi-finals of the WTT Contender event in Budapest on Wednesday. They defeated the top seeds Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova of Slovakia 11-4, 3-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 in the quarterfinals.

This is the Indian duo's first competition as a pair since the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where they clinched a historic bronze medal.

More recently, Manika Batra partnered veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal at the Tokyo Olympics, where the duo were ousted in the first round.

READ: G Sathiyan highlights why Manika Batra will a good mixed doubles partner

At the ongoing WTT Contender event, Sathiyan and Batra made a good start to their campaign to overpower Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath in the Round 16. Sathiyan and Batra staved off a late resistance from their compatriots to secure an 11-3, 11-6 and 14-12 win in the pre-quarterfinals.

Manika Batra, Sathiyan make a strong start in singles events

Both Manika Batra and Sathiyan also had a good outing in their respective singles events.

Read: Who is Manika Batra? 5 things you didn't know about India's table tennis star

In women’s singles, the sixth-seeded Manika Batra scripted a 3-2 victory over Germany’s Sabine Winter to enter the Round of 16.

Kamath and Sreeja Akula joined Manika Batra in the pre-quarterfinals with upset wins in their respective opening matches.

Kamath, ranked 134th, defeated World No. 58 Yana Noskova of Russia, while Sreeja defeated 78th-ranked Linda Bergstrom of Sweden.

In men’s singles, Sathiyan, seeded fourth, thrashed France’s Can Akkuzu in four games. Harmeet Desai defeated Csaba Andras of France while Manav Thakkar drubbed Pavel Platanov of Belarus in straight games.