Manika Batra stuns World No. 4 again to win historic singles gold in TT

A marauding Manika Batra created history by becoming the first Indian woman table tennis player to win a singles gold at the Commonwealth Games while Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan went down fighting in the men's doubles to settle for silver, here today.

World No. 58 Batra's dream run in the quadrennial event continued as she blanked 50th-ranked Yu Mengyu of Singapore 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7) in a one-sided final.

However, it was the semifinal win over World No. 4 Feng Tianwei that meant more for the 22-year-old.

The Delhi-based paddler showed that her crucial victory against multiple Olympic medallist Feng in the team final was no fluke as she edged out the mighty Singaporean 4-3 (12-10, 5-11, 11-8, 5-11, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11) in the semifinals.

The Indian foxed Feng for the second time in a row with smart use of her pimpled rubber for both defense and offense. Batra showed remarkable composure and maturity to overcome a 2-3 deficit in a high-pressure final.

"This is my first individual medal in this big tournament and I am feeling really proud," said Batra after her phenomenal effort.

On her overall Games experience, she added: "The experience was amazing - I defeated the world number four twice and now Yu to win gold. I am feeling really happy and very proud for my country."