Manika Batra And G Sathiyan Win Mixed Doubles Title In Budapest

India's Manika Batra and G Sathiyan outplayed Hungary's Dora Madarasz and Nandor Ecseki 3-1 to win the mixed doubles title at the WTT Contender in Budapest on Friday. They beat the 94th-ranked Hungarian pairing 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6. 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. Sathiyan said it was a tricky final but their toughest challenge came in the quarterfinals when they upset the world number seven duo from Slovakia -- Barbara Balazova and Lubomir Pistej.

"It is great that we were able to win the event with very little practice. It certainly shows what we can achieve as a pair. We were quite tactically and seem to complement each other's game.

"Manika had me approached for the partnership a while. We both thought it was the best time to give it a shot. She is our best ever female player and we have shown the potential that our partnership has. The more we play the better we get," Sathiyan told PTI.

Sathiyan will play in the Czech Open later this week while Manika will head back home. Another big event coming up is the Asian Championships in September-October.

Manika, ranked 60th in singles, had done well to reach the semifinals. Another impressive performance came from 150th-ranked Indian Sreeja Akula, whom Manika defeated in the quarterfinals.

It was also a welcome result for Sathiyan following his opening round loss in the singles competition of the Tokyo Olympics.