Amazon Quiz: Manika Batra and which player, recently became the World No. 7 mixed doubles pair in table tennis?
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
Achanta Sharath Kamal
Soumyajit Ghosh
Harmeet Desai
Answer: Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran of India defeated Sweden’s Mattias Falck 3-2 in the second round of the World Table Tennis Tour Star Contender Table Tennis competition in Doha.
In a dramatic second-round encounter, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Falck 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.
Falck, a Swede, is seeded eighth and a silver medallist in the 2019 World Championships.
The Chennai-based paddler was outwitted in the first two games and needed to put his best foot forward in the crucial third game to keep the match alive. Sathiyan gained the early lead, and when Falck attempted a comeback with a flurry of points, the Indian kept his calm to advance to the next round.
Sathiyan regained his confidence and poise after winning the game, and he easily won the next two games.
Sathiyan Gnansekaran remarked after the match that he is looking forward to continuing deep into the tournament. Sathiyan Gnansekaran, on the other hand, couldn’t keep going in the mixed doubles with Manika Batra, as the World No. 7 duo faced defeat in the first round.
In the first round, Sathiyan and Manika were defeated 1-3 (7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11) by Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles of Spain.
The Spanish team won the opening game 11-7, but the Indians tied it up with an 11-9 victory.
The next two games, however, were a breeze for the Spaniards, as they easily defeated Sathiyan and Manika.
Manika Batra (7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9) defeated Germany’s Xiaona Shan (3-1) in the women’s singles. Shan, ranked 27 in the world, was unable to accept the Indian’s game and surrendered.
