Manika Batra’s history making moment ended in the pre-quarterfinals itself as she lost to 13-ranked Japanese Hirano Miu, an Olympic team silver and World championships medallist, 1-4 (6-11, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 6-11) in the women’s singles table tennis competition of the Olympics at the South Paris Arena here on Wednesday.
Earlier, Sreeja Akula followed in the footsteps of Manika to get the better of Singapore’s Jian Zeng 4-2 (9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10) in 51 minutes to set up a round of 16 clash with China’s Sun Yingsha.
Manika did not have a good start as she hit the net often to see Hirano, who serves with a noticeable thumping right leg, secure the first game in six minutes.
Manika began well in the second game taking an early 5-1 lead. However, the gritty Japanese fought back to level the scores at 6-6 and went on to pocket the game as the Indian struggled to keep the ball on the table on several occasions.
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In a thrilling third game lasting 12 minutes, Manika took a five-point lead before Hirano benefitted from the Indian’s mistakes to secure game points twice. But the Indian did not give up to win the game and narrow the gap.
After a tight contest, Hirano closed the fourth game in her favour by taking the last two points - first through a spectacular forehand and then because of Manika finding the net.
An under-pressure Manika played well in patches, engaging in a long rally in the fourth game, but finally bowing out in 47 minutes.
In the following round of 16 encounter, Sreeja Akula let slip multiple game points in the first two games to succumb to a 10-12, 10-12, 8-11 and 3-11 defeat to the first-seeded Yingsha Sun of China.
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