Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula suffered second-round group stage exit after going down to the top Chinese paddlers.
Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula suffered second-round group stage exit after going down to the top Chinese paddlers, Wang Manyu and defending champion Chen Meng respectively at the ITTF World Cup in Galaxy Arena on Wednesday.
There are sixteen groups in each of the men’s and women’s singles competitions. Group stage matches comprise four games, with the ratio of wins to losses determining the final rankings that will further help to book a berth for the knockout stages.
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Sreeja Akula started her campaign against Poland’s Natalia Bajor on April 16. Akula defeated the Polish paddler in straight games without much trouble, with the scoreline reading 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5. However, the Indian paddler was challenged in her second match against the former World No. 1 Chen Meng.
World No. 39 Sreeja lost 1-3 (4-11, 4-11, 15-13, 2-11) to reigning Olympic champion and world no. 4 Chen Meng of China and finished second in the group. The Chinese paddler dominated the game on her serve, as Sreeja Akula also made numerous errors.
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Manika Batra, too, finished second after losing 0-4 (6- 11, 4-11, 9-11, 4-11) to world no. 2 Wang Manyu of China. Batra’s game against Wang ended in a one-sided affair as the Indian paddler ran out of steam. The Chinese paddler performed nearly perfectly, as she didn’t let Batra capitalise on any of her mistakes.
Manika’s elimination from the ITTF World Cup Macao 2024 meant that India’s challenge at the tournament officially ended at the group stages. However, there are many positives that both the paddlers can carry forward with them. Manika and Sreeja would look forward to providing a better performance in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
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