Manika Batra's 6 biggest career achievements

Star paddler Manika Batra, on Saturday, created history by winning the bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Cup Table Tennis. The 27-year-old defeated world number 7 Hina Hayata from Japan to earn the podium.

Here, we take a look at some of the biggest achievements in Manika Batra's career.

Women's singles gold in 2018 Commonwealth Games

The 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast was the breakthrough tournament for Manika Batra. Aged 23 then, she bagged twin gold medals in women's singles and team event respectively along with a women's doubles silver and a bronze in mixed doubles. She had then defeated world number 4 Feng Tianwei enroute the gold medal.

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna

Manika Batra was honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna - India's highest sporting honour in 2020, for her contributions to table tennis.

First Indian to reach third round at Olympics

Manika Batra became only the first Indian to reach the third round in singles at the Olympics during the 2020 Tokyo Games. She had made it to the Round of 32 by beating Margaryta Pesotska before bowing out. Batra was ranked 64 in the world then, while Pesotska was way higher ranked at number 32.

First Indian woman in top 50 world ranking

Manika Batra became the first Indian woman to break into the top 50 world ranking in women's singles in January earlier this year. She is currently placed 44th and is expected to break into top 40, courtesy her bronze medal finish at the 2022 Asian Cup.

First Indian in top 5 doubles world ranking

Manika Batra is also the first Indian to break into top 5 in doubles world ranking. While she achieved it by partnering with Archana Kamath in women's doubles in April 2022, she also achieved the same by pairing with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in mixed doubles in November 2022.

Asian Cup Bronze

Manika Batra became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Asian Cup on Saturday. She also broke India's 22-year-old medal drought in the continental event. Batra defeated world 6, world number 23 and world number 7 ranked players to earn a historic podium for India at the 2022 Asian Cup.