Manika Batra lost 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 and11-7 against against Austria.
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Ever since India started competing in the Olympics, no Indian made it to the Last 16. However, In Tokyo Olympics, Manika Batra was expected to bring that change.
Batra was put under pressure from the get-go as she competed against Sofia Polcanova of Austria. The Austrian won the first three sets as Batra tried to gain her composure. Sofia won 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 against India. Batra was put there to prove a point and change many things about the Indian Table Tennis scene. In the fourth set, Manika lost the fourth set 11-7 and could not make it to the Last 16. (Follow live Blog for Olympics only on sportslumo.com)
Batra had earlier advanced to round 3 after defeating Margaryta Pesotkova of Ukraine. The match started with a bit of a disappointment as the padder was struggling against her opponent.
Manika Batra moved to the next round after winning a 56-minute battle– seven sets against 20th seed Margaryta Pesotkova. She will be aiming for a medal at Tokyo Games. She lost the opening game but came from behind to lead 3-2 before the match entered the decider and she clinched the match 4-3.
Pesotska displayed her class in the following Game, and she won it 11-4, and she needed just two more wins to progress to the next round.
Batra staged a comeback in Games 3 and 4, bringing the match into an exciting position. It was perhaps the one-minute break that Batra took. She composed herself and got her head back into the game. The match went back and forth, and as a result, the match was even at 3-3 and it went into the decider.
