Table tennis: Manika Batra leaves WTTC after losing singles

Star Indian paddler Manika Batra fought hard before going down to Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico 3-4 in the round of 32 of the World Table Tennis Championships here on Wednesday.

Against Diaz, ranked 13th on the ITTF chart, world number 39 Manika played the first game before the opponent stepped on the pedal. It was pretty even until the sixth game with both players at 3-3.

But Diaz ran away with the decider as Manika lost 3-4 (6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3) to secure her place in the final. 16.

Despite her loss, Manika managed to secure India’s best singles result here.

Later in the day, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will face England’s Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford in the round of 18 men’s doubles.

The Indian combination had defeated the same English duo en route to the gold medal at last year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Manika will pair with Archana Kamath and face Japan’s Hina Hayata and Mima Ito in the round of 16 women’s doubles.