PARIS: Manika Batra, India’s table tennis poster girl, crashed out of the Paris Olympics 2024 table tennis competition with an under-par show against Japan’s Miu Hirano at the South Paris Arena 4. The world number 13 outclassed Batra 4-1 with a combination of clever stroke making on either side of the table.
Three-time Olympian Batra made a brief comeback winning the third of the best-of-five contest but Hirano, who became the youngest World Cup winner in 2016, tamed the world number 28 Indian 11-6, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8 and 11-6 in aRound of 16 contest that lasted over an hour.
Hirano was certainly the better player on show. Her aggression often caught Batra on the backfoot and the Japanese exploited weaknesses with perfect shots on both sides of the table. Luck too sided the Japanese player but Batra could not win key points to put the pressure back on her opponent. Game 5 was a washout for the Indian as Hirano never looked back after taking a quick 5-1 lead,
“I just can’t understand why my forehand stopped functioning. She played a clever match and I failed to
do what I wanted today. It’s certainly disappointing,” said Batra, who became the first Indian table tennis players to make the pre-quarterfinals of an Olympics. In the early hours on Tuesday, Batra beat French player Prithika Pavade 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7. This was the second time the fashionable Batra faced Hirano. Someone who dresses up her fingernails with the tricolor and other designs, Batra looked under pressure and often surrendered healthy leads, especially in the second game. Hirano, who won the team silver at Tokyo 2020, now leads Batra in head-to-head clashes having won in the WTT Contender in Lima in August 2023.
India still have the 26-year-old Sreeja Akula in the table tennis women’s singles competition. On her Olympic debut, Sreeja defeated Singapore’s Jian Zeng in six games to enter the pre-quarterfinals. At the time of going to press, Akula, the world number 25, was scheduled to play Sun Yingsha of China, the current world No. 1.
Manika Batra will now focus on the team event.