Manika Batra's Historic Paris Olympics Run Concludes with Defeat

Manika Batra's impressive journey at the Paris Olympics concluded with a loss to Japan's Miu Hirano. Earlier, Sreeja Akula had enhanced India's historic run by reaching the women's singles pre-quarterfinals on her 26th birthday. Manika, the first Indian to reach the Round of 16 in Olympic table tennis, was joined by Sreeja after her 4-2 victory over Singapore's Jian Zeng.

Against Miu, who has been in excellent form, Manika lost 6-11, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 6-11 in the pre-quarterfinals. Despite leading in the second and third games, Miu's swift adjustments prevented Manika from making further history. "I could have put in more effort. I was not happy with the way I started. I am not happy internally. I got confidence after the third game but she played at a good level. It hurts. I had to be calmer," Manika said post-match.

Manika's Struggles Against Miu

Manika acknowledged that her inability to play to her strengths contributed significantly to her defeat. "My forehand was just not coming. I don't know why. It happens. I can be sad today, but I have to be ready for the country for the team event," she stated.

In the first game, Manika quickly lost but then reduced her errors and played more aggressively to lead 5-1 in the second game. However, Miu closed the gap with her fast strokes, putting Manika on the defensive as Miu took a 9-7 lead. A backhand error from Miu made it 9-9.

Manika then handed Miu a game point by hitting an angled forehand out and repeated the shot to go down 0-2 in the match. In the third game, despite Miu's unforced errors, Manika led 7-2 but saw her lead erased again as it reached 9-9. She managed to save three game points before Miu hit a backhand long and netted another shot, giving Manika her first game point.

Sreeja Akula's Historic Win

Earlier in the day, Sreeja Akula advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with a hard-fought 4-2 win over Singapore's Jian Zeng in a women's singles round of 32 match. Sreeja won 9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10 to join Manika Batra in achieving an unprecedented feat for Indian table tennis at the Olympics.

In the fourth game against Miu, Manika changed her approach and added aggression despite trailing 2-6 initially. She fought back resiliently and logged four straight points to level the score. However, Miu found her first game point when Manika hit a forehand out at 8-9 and then made a backhand error on the next point, giving Miu a 3-1 lead.

The fifth game saw Miu dominate quickly with a 5-1 lead due to unforced errors from Manika's racquet. Although Manika closed the gap to make it 6-8, two backhand errors gave Miu four match points. The match ended when Manika hit her forehand long.

Manika had previously lost to Miu in their last encounter in August of last year. Despite this setback, Indian table tennis continues to make strides on the global stage.

The Indian star remains determined despite this loss and looks forward to future competitions representing India in team events.