India women paddlers stunned defending champions Singapore in women's Team Gold Medal match of Commonwealth Games 2018 at the Oxenford Studios in Gold Coast on Sunday, April 8.
Singapore women have been denied the yellow metal for the first time since 2002 edition of the Commonwealth Games by their Indian counterparts, who won the country's first ever table tennis Gold at the quadrennial multi-sport spectacle.
It was also India's 7th Gold medal and 12th overall in the ongoing edition of Commonwealth Games. President Ram Nath Kovind took to Twitter to congratulate the women's team for their historic achievement.
Congratulations to the Golden Girls - Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar & Mouma Das - for bagging India's first ever Women's Table Tennis Team GOLD at Commonwealth Games..stupendous achievement #GC2018 #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 8, 2018
World number 58 Manika Batra signaled India's intentions in the very first rubber of the tie, which was a repeat of the 2010 final, beating world number four Feng Tianwei 3-2.
Batra was under pressure after going down 2-1 against Tianwei but she held her nerves to launch a remarkable comeback and cause the biggest upset of the final, winning the rubber 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7.
However, veteran Madhurika Patkar allowed Singapore to get back into the contest as she was blanked 3-0 (13-11, 11-2, 11-6) by Yu Mengyu.
Patkar though came back strong in the only women's doubles rubber, combining well with Mouma Das to beat the Singapore duo of Zhou Yihan and Yu Mengyu 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7).
Batra deal the knockout blow to Singapore when she made light work of Yihan 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 to give India an unassailable 3-1 lead in the tie and eventually the Gold medal.
Even as Batra completed the final rally, the paddler and her teammates at the sidelines jumped in joy. So did table tennis fans on Twitter
IBTimes India has compiled a list of reactions to India's historic Gold. Check it out below.
Must say I did not expect this at all.This is a phenomenal result in TT.Singapore had never lost the Women's Team Gold ever before since Manchester 2002
— Digvijay Singh Deo (@DiggySinghDeo) April 8, 2018
GOLD!!! This is HUGE! India women's TT team end Singapore's domination at #CommonwealthGames , hand the top seeds 3-1 defeat. Prior to this Singapore women's team had won Gold in all 4 editions. Indian Table Tennis is well and truly on the upswing. #GC2018TableTennis
— jigar mehta (@jigsactin) April 8, 2018
Congratulations to Women Team for clinching first Gold for India in Table Tennis at #CommonwealthGames2018 pic.twitter.com/7ofxg428Sw
— Dushyant Chautala B- (@Dchautala) April 8, 2018
Congratulations to the Golden Girls - Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar & Mouma Das - for bagging India's first ever Women's Table Tennis Team GOLD at Commonwealth Games..stupendous achievement #GC2018 #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 8, 2018
What a gold medal this is! The women's table tennis team has secured India its seventh gold of #CWG2018. Manika Batra engineers this with two wonderful wins. The doubles pair picked up a crucial point against formidable Singapore.
— G Rajaraman (@g_rajaraman) April 8, 2018
Take a bow ladies ... What a win !!! ???????? Among the Biggest ever GOLD for India ... #CWG2018 @MoumaDasTT #ManikaBatra #Madhurika ... Loved how they went about this ... Brilliant!!
— Arun (@Armenon83) April 8, 2018
That was brute.. really one of the historical moments in Commonwealth games for India.. they beat Singapore to win the women's team title in Table Tennis for the 1st time.. Singapore lose it for the 1st time.. #GC2018 #TableTennis
— Vishank Razdan (@VishankRazdan) April 8, 2018
Table tennis was introduced in CWG in 2002. Singapore never lost from then. And today India did it finally.. Manika the champ... India wins Gold ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/BAuMPu6yf5
— chaitanya yalavarthi (@chaitanya792) April 8, 2018
