WTT Champions Incheon 2025: Manika Batra crashes out in the opening round

Indian paddler Manika Batra crashed out in the opening round of the women's singles event at WTT Champions Incheon 2025 on Tuesday (April 1). She lost to Chinese paddler Qian Tianyi 3-1 with scores of 11-2, 8-11, 11-3, 11-6.

Manika had a poor start to the match, losing the first game with a humiliating score of 11-2. She won both points on her own serve. Meanwhile, the Indian paddler won the second game 11-8 and leveled the match score 1-1. She won six points on her serve and five on her opponent's serve.

The 29-year-old player lost the third game 11-3 and the fourth game 11-6 to lose the match 3-1 and bow out of the tournament in the first round. She won six points on her own serve and three on her opponent's serve from the last two games.

Qian Tianyi won the match 3-1 in 26 minutes and 59 seconds. She is through to the next round of the competition and will face the winner of the match between top-seeded Wang Yidi and Taiwanese table tennis player Cheng I-Ching.

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Sreeja Akula to begin her campaign on April 3

Sreeja Akula will begin her WTT Champions Incheon 2025 campaign in the women's singles Round-of-32 match against Chinese paddler Kuai Man. Sreeja is unseeded, while Kuai is seeded fifth in the tournament.

The match details are as follows:

Match: Kuai Man vs Sreeja Akula (Women's Singles - Round of 32)

Date: April 3, 2205

Time: 1:45 pm local time (10:15 am IST)

Venue: Inspire Arena, Incheon, Korea Republic

The young Indian paddler and Manika Batra are the only two Indian players competing in the WTT Champions Incheon 2025 from April 1 to 6. The Asian nation will have no representation in the men's singles event. The event has a total prize pool of $500,000.