Indian table tennis star Manika Batra faced a disappointing exit in the second round of the group stage at the ITTF World Cup. This event took place at the Galaxy Arena, Macao. Earlier in the day Sreeja Akula also exited the competition with a similar result.
Manika Batra loses to World No. 2
Batra, who is ranked 37th in the world, was up against China’s Wang Manyu, the world number 2. Despite her best efforts, Batra couldn’t secure a win and lost 0-4 (6-11, 4-11, 9-11, 4-11) to Wang.
Manika started strong with her forehand smashes to grab an early lead of 4-1 in the first game. She then pulled back things with her favourite forward pushes but an excellent defensive display from Wang helped her clinch the game.
Wang came with the same defensive tactics in the second game which drew multiple errors from Manika. Manika tried to use more of her backhand in the third game and effectively retrieved some of Wang’s return and reached a good lead of 9-7. But then an unlucky net deflection broke her momentum which was followed by a service error, helping Wang confirm her victory.
In the final game, there was nothing much for Manika as she was still in her thoughts of those misses in the third game and suffered a group stage exit from the competition.
The ITTF World Cup is a prestigious event that attracts top players from around the globe. It is structured with 16 groups in both the men’s and women’s singles categories. The group stage matches consist of four games, and the final rankings are based on the ratio of games won to games lost. Only the group winners progress to the knockout rounds.
Manika Batra loses to WR 2 & former World Champion Wang Manyu 0-4 in her 2nd & final Group stage encounter of World Cup.
With one win & a loss, Manika finished 2nd in her Group. She gets eliminated as only Group leaders proceed to the next stage. https://t.co/lpYpZPG4FT pic.twitter.com/wCb2XJI0oy
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) April 17, 2024
Batra’s loss meant she finished second in her group. This result was not enough to secure a spot in the knockout stages of the tournament. It was a disappointing outcome for Batra, who had come from a game down to beat Romania’s Adina Diaconu 3-1 in her group-stage opener.
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