India's challenge at the World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, South Africa, ended as Manika Batra lost in women's singles and the team of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Achanta Sharath Kamal went down in men's doubles.
Batra succumbed to Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico after putting up a valiant fight in the round of 32 match on Wednesday.
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Facing off against the 13th-ranked player in the ITTF chart, Diaz, the 39th-ranked Batra began the match on a positive note by clinching the first game. However, her opponent swiftly shifted gears and upped the ante to make a comeback. The encounter remained fairly balanced throughout, with both players locked at 3-3 by the sixth game.
It was in the decisive seventh game that Diaz pressed on the throttle and raced to an 11-3 lead to clinch the match. The final scoreline read 3-4 (6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3) in favour of Diaz, which helped her book a spot the last 16.
Despite the loss, Batra can take pride in her performance, as she ensured the best result for India in the singles competition at the tournament.
Following Batra's match, the Indian duo of Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan faced off against the English pair of Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford in the round of 16 of the men's doubles event.
However, Kamal and Sathiyan were unable to replicate their success from the previous year's Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where they had defeated the same English duo to secure a gold medal. The English pair triumphed over the Indian combination with a 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 12-14, 10-12) victory, leading to India's exit from the men's doubles event.
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In the women's doubles competition, Manika Batra partnered with Archana Kamath. However, the duo faced a formidable challenge in Japan's Hina Hayata and Mima Ito in the round of 16. Despite their best efforts, Batra and Kamath were unable to secure a victory, losing the match in straight games with a scoreline of 0-3 (8-11, 6-11, 7-11).
India's hopes were pinned in the mixed doubles event as Sathiyan paired up with Batra. The pair have been hitting the right notes in the last couple of years but failed to produce their magic against the Swedish pair of Truls Moregard and Christina Kallberg to lose 3-1 (5-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10).
With their loss, India's campaign at the World Table Tennis Championships concluded on a disappointing note, as crucial moments slipped away and pivotal games went against the Indian paddlers.
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