Commonwealth Games 2022: Manika loses to lower-ranked player as India crash out of women’s team TT
Commonwealth Games 2022: The squad led by golden queen Manika Batra crashed out 3-2 to Malaysia in the quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Saturday, ending India’s chances of defending the women’s team gold title they won four years ago.
The Indian team, which had three youthful players in addition to the seasoned Manika Batra, the top-ranked woman in the nation in table tennis, struggled against the Malaysians in a match on Saturday at the NEC Table Tennis Show Court 1. The Indians have humiliated Malaysia 3-0 on their way to winning the gold medal in 2018.
Reeth Tennison and Sreeja Akula’s loss to Malaysia’s Karen Lyne and Li Sian Alice Chang in the doubles round on Saturday marked a poor start for India.
Manika, who is rated 41st in the world, brought India even, but she fought to defeat Malaysia’s Ho Ying, who is ranked 556th, to earn a close 3-2 victory. Ho Ying faltered to squander a two-game lead before winning the fifth game for an 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3 victory. After establishing a 2-0 lead, the Indian star appears to lose focus and loses the following two games before eking out a victory. Manika had already defeated the same player 3-0 in a previous match.
Sreeja then defeated Li Sian Alica Chang in the second singles match in three consecutive games to give India a 2-1 lead. The scores were 11-6, 11-6, and 11-9. The great surprise for India occurred when it appeared that Manika would defeat Karen Lyne in her match and advance India to the semifinals. Instead, Manika fell in straight games against a lower-ranked Malaysian opponent while the scores were tied 2-2.
Reeth Tennison, a 26-year-old Indian, had to defeat Ho Ying in the fifth rubber to win the match, but he lost 3-2 in the decisive game as India shockingly lost. Reeth won the first game 12-10 but lost the second 8-11. She triumphed in game three, 6-11, but the Malaysian rallied to take game four, 11-9. Reeth put up a great fight in the fifth and final game, but ultimately fell short 9-11, bringing an unfortunate end to India’s journey.
In order to prepare for the individual events, where Manika Batra won the gold medal four years ago in Gold Coast, the Indian athletes will now take a couple of days off from competition. Along with Reeth and G. Sathiyan, she will also play in women’s doubles and mixed doubles.