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India's WTT Contender Bangkok 2024 campaign ended on Saturday, July 6, with all paddlers bowing out of the campaign. None of the Indian players made it to the semi-finals at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
On Day 5 of the campaign, the remaining two Indian paddlers Manush Shah and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran exited as they suffered defeats against higher-ranked players in the pre-quarterfinals of the WTT Contender Bangkok 2024.
Regrettably, Paris-bound men’s singles players Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai also made an early exit from the tournament. It can turn out to be a major setback with the Paris Olympics 2024 scheduled less than a month from now.
Manush Shah suffered a defeat to Chuang Chih-Yuan, the World No. 41 player, from Chinese Taipei by 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 12-14. On the other hand, Paris 2024 reserve player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran faced a loss against World No. 7 player Lin Yun Ju by 6-11, 9-11, 9-11.
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In the women’s singles, the poor outing continued as Paris-bound Archana Girish suffered an early exit from the competition after losing to Japan’s Hitomi Sato in the opening round.
Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath are part of the Paris 2024 squad. However, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula didn’t take part in the WTT Contender Bangkok event.
On the fourth day of the campaign, in the mixed doubles event, the Indian pair of Diya Parag and Manush Shah suffered a big loss against the Japanese duo of Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto, by 8-11, 6-11, 5-11.
With no paddler making it to the semi-finals in the WTT Contender Bangkok, it can be a worrying factor in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics.
With no WTT Contender events scheduled, all Indian paddlers will move to the Paris Olympics 2024. It would be interesting to watch how they fare in the mega event in Paris.
WTT Contender Bangkok 2024: Day 5 Results (Indians only)
Men’s Singles (Round of 16)
Manush Shah (India) lost to Chuang Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei) by 1-3 (11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 12-14)
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (India) lost to Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei) by 0-3 (6-11, 9-11, 9-11)
