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India’s women’s team went down to Chinese Taipei 3-1 in a closely fought Round-of-16 encounter of the 2024 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre in South Korea on Wednesday, February 21.
Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Ayhika Mukherjee, who started off the day with a brilliant performance against Italy, beating them 3-0, continued to play well in their pre-quarterfinals encounter. However, the paddlers from Chinese Taipei proved to be too strong for the Indian players.
A closer look at the Indian women’s team’s matchup against Chinese Taipei at the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024
The tie began with India’s most experienced, Manika Batra, taking on Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu. The Indian paddler, who had been impressive in the tournament, put on an outstanding performance against the former World No. 10. Despite going down 2-1 in the match, Batra kept her composure to win incredibly close fourth and fifth games. The final score of the match was 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9.
In the second match of the tie, Sreeja Akula, who recently made her way into the top 50 of the world rankings, faced a tough challenge in the form of World No. 10, Cheng I-Ching. Akula showed incredible resilience but was comfortably beaten by the paddler from Chinese Taipei with a score of 6-11, 9-11, 5-11.
With the tie level at 1-1, Ayhika Mukherjee, who has saved India from trouble several times before, put on yet another noteworthy performance. But the fight from the Indian was not enough to help secure a win. Mukherjee went down to Li Yu-Jhun 10-12, 13-15, 11-9, 2-11 in a nail-biting four-set encounter.
The fourth match saw India’s Commonwealth Games medalist, Manika Batra, take the court once again, facing Olympic bronze medalist Cheng I-Ching. Batra started the match strongly, putting on a stoic defense and converting every loose ball from her opponent into a fiery winner. Cheng, too, played some spectacular shots, and the match saw some intense rallies.
The players went toe-to-toe in the first two sets. But after losing the third game 11-9, Batra seemed a little dejected, and Cheng capitalized on the Indian’s frustration, taking the next game 11-5 and ending India’s women’s team campaign at the tournament.
Results
India 1-3 Chinese Taipei
Manika Batra 3-2 Chen Szu-Yu (11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9)
Sreeja Akula 0-3 Cheng I-Ching (6-11, 9-11, 5-11)
Ayhika Mukherjee 1-3 Li Yu-Jhun (10-12, 13-15, 11-9, 2-11)
Manika Batra 1-3 Cheng I-Ching (10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11)
