The Indian pair of G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra went down to North Korea’s R.I. Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11 in the quarterfinals of the World mixed doubles Olympic qualification table tennis tournament in Havirov (Czech Republic) on Thursday.
After putting it across the duo of Georgios Stamatouros and Malamatenia Papadimitriou of Greece 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 in the round-of-16, the eighth seeded Indians couldn’t match the North Korean pair, seeded 21, in the last eight clash either in tactics or in strategy.
Sathiyan and Manika were tentative throughout the contest as they went from being very aggressive and passive in a matter of few points. The moment either of the pair committed a mistake with an attacking instinct, it went into a shell immediately.
On the other hand, Sik and Yong pair were aggressive from the beginning irrespective of whether it won or lost a point. Especially Sik who went for his shots. It was his attacking forehand strokes that won the day for North Korea. Now, the Indian pair will have another chance on Friday.
On the second day, the remaining pairs (24) will be divided into two groups of 12 each and will be seeded based on the first day’s performance. Sathiyan and Manika will have to win in their own half to make it to the Paris Olympics. A daunting task, indeed.
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