Manika Batra fought alone as the Indian women’s team lost their semifinal match against Japan at the Asian TT Championships in Astana on Wednesday. The 1-3 scoreline in the last-four stage hardly told the real story as in two of the three matches India lost, it could’ve gone either way.

The women’s team had already secured their first-ever medal at the Championships when they stunned second seeds Korea the previous day. 

Winning against Japan, the Olympic silver medalists was always going to be a Herculean task, but the women’s team has a knack for springing a surprise against the world’s number-one ranked paddler.

Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula may have got their world-beater status with their wins over Chinese World No.1 Sun Yingsha and then-World No. 2 Wang Yidi earlier this year. Still, the fact remains Manika has been repeatedly shattering the favorites.

She brought India back into the contest with her unmatchable grit and sharp reflexes on Wednesday again. Playing against 20-year-old World No. 16 Satsuki Odo, who has won five WTT titles already this year, Manika was supposed to be the underdog. But not for a moment during the match, you would’ve thought so.