The Indian women’s challenge in the women’s singles event of Rio 2016 came to an end after Manika Batra went down in a tense encounter against Grzybowska Katarzyna. The Delhi paddler started off brightly taking the first game 12-10.
However, Grzybowska Katarzyna who is ranked much higher than Batra came back to comfortably take the second set 11-6. The match’s turning point probably came in the third game, when Manika let slip a 7-1 lead to lose the game 12-14.
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Batra did level the game at 2-2, but after letting go of the 5th game easily, Grzybowska Katarzyna held her nerve in a tense sixth game to overcome the talented Indian paddler 14-12 and win the match 4-2.
A spirited performance by the 21-year-old went in vain as her experienced opponent kept her calm in the crucial moments to edge out India's top paddler.It was really unlucky for Manika, but if today's performance is anything to go by, the future of women's table tennis is bright in India.
With Manika’s loss, the Indian challenge in women’s table tennis event came to an end. However, The men's paddlers though have lower ranked opponents and both Soumyajit Ghosh and Sharath Kamal will be hopeful of progressing to the next round.
Mouma Das loses in straight sets to Daniela Montiero
India’s most experienced paddler had a disappointing first round match as she went down without much of a fight against Romanian Daniela Montiero. The Romanian put in a really strong performance right from the outset and outclassed the Indian paddler in straight sets.
Daniela overcame Mouma 11-2, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2.
Also Read: Analysing the table tennis draw for Indian paddlers and their possible knockout opponents
