India's Manika Batra and G Sathiyan bag mixed doubles title at WTT Contender

India's Manika Batra and G Sathiyan bag mixed doubles title at WTT Contender (Twitter/India_AllSports)

The Indian pair combining Manika Batra and G Sathiyan won the mixed double finals at the WTT Contender tournament in Budapest on Friday. The pair defeated local players Nandor Ecseki and Dora Madarasz 3-1 in the summit clash. 

The Indian pair kick-off the proceedings and went on to secure the first game 11-9.

The Hungarian pair showed some fightback in the following game and won it 9-11. 

Right after Olympics!
The India mixed doubles pair of G Sathiyan & Manika Batra script history by winning the 1st ever title at the Contender WTT Event at Hungary of the ITTF! They beat the top seeds and many other formidable pairs. Congratulations @manikabatra_TT @sathiyantt ! pic.twitter.com/v1obBmBBPY — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) August 20, 2021

It was a memorable win for Manika and Sathiyan, who don't play a lot of mixed doubles together.

Manika had won the Asian Games bronze with veteran Sharath Kamal and more recently they played together at the Tokyo Olympics.

Manika, ranked 60th in singles, had done well to reach the semifinals at the same event.

Another impressive performance came from 150th-ranked Indian Sreeja Akula, whom Manika defeated in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, it was a welcome result for Sathiyan following his opening round loss in the singles competition of the Tokyo Olympics. 

- with PTI inputs