Tokyo Olympics table tennis: Manika Batra loses to Austria's Sofia Polcanova in Round 3

Manika Batra in action against Austria`s Sofia Polcanova. Pic PTI/Gurinder Osan

India star paddler Manika Batra bowed out of the women's singles event after losing her Round 3 match against Austria's Sofia Polcanova here at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym -- Table 1 in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

Sofia Polcanova defeated Manika 4-0 as the match lasted just 27 minutes. Manika and Polcanova did exchange some great points to start the match but it was Austrian who prevailed against Manika's rally and took the first set 11-8. The second set was all Sofia from the start who cleverly neutralised Batra's reverse spin and took the round in a blink of an eye. The 11-2 set lasted for just four minutes.

Manika's lethal forearm continued to be missing in the third round against the Austrian's stern defence as she again failed to put any fight and her opponent took the set 11-5. In the next one, the Indian tried to delay the inevitable by playing some quality long rallies but the end result remained the same. Polcanova claimed the set 11-7 and marched into the next round.

Earlier, Sutirtha Mukherjee also crashed out of the women's singles event after losing her Round 2 match against Portugal's Fu Yu. Meanwhile, Achanta Sharath Kamal progressed to Round 3 of the men's singles event after defeating Portugal's Tiago Apolonia. Kamal defeated Tiago 4-2 in Round 2 of the men's singles event and the entire match lasted for 48 minutes.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics table tennis: Manika Batra stuns Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska to enter third round

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