New Delhi: The Indian women’s squad finished sixth, ending its campaign after losing 0-3 to Thailand in the 26th ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Championships at Pyeongchang today.
Earlier, the Indians beat Singapore 3-2 in a 5-8 positions match before going down 0-3 to Thailand in the fifth-position showdown.
After a fine showing yesterday by our men, the paddlers faltered in the mixed doubles, too.
Manika Batra began well against Jingyi Zhou (11-9, 11-3. 11-6) to put the team on the right path, but Sreeja Akula’s loss (7-11, 6-11, 7-11) to Jian Zeng gave Singapore the lifeline. However, Ayhika Mukjerjee’s win against Ru Xin Wong provided India a 2-1 lead.
In the reverse singles, Manika failed to overcome Jian Zeng and lost 8-11, 6-11, 7-11, putting pressure on Sreeja to make amends for her earlier loss. And the Hyderabadi pulled off a 3-1 (12-10, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6) win over Jingyi to redeem the team’s chances.
But the Thai denied the team as Suthasini Sawettabutt accounted for Sreeja 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, then Orawan Paranang downed Manika 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6 before Wanwisa Aueawiriyayothin overcame Diya Chitale 15-13, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8 to grab the fifth position.
In the mixed doubles, G. Sathiyan and Manika went down 2-3 (11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 8-11, 9-11) in the round of 32 to another Thai pair, Phakpoom Sanguansin and Orawan Paranang. During the match, Manika seemed to have twisted her ankle and needed a 10-minute medical attention. But the Indian duo continued but lost.
Harmeet Desai and Sreeja Akula followed suit and lost to the top-seeded Japanese pair of Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata 6-11, 7-11, 8-11 in another R32 match. In their first round, the Indian duo beat the Malaysian pair of Shen Qi Wong and Xin Ai Tee 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9.
The men take on Chinese Taipei in the semifinals tomorrow.
–TTFI
