Table Tennis World Cup: Manika keeps knockout hopes alive, Sreeja loses
India’s Manika Batra kept her knockout hopes alive at the ITTF Table Tennis World Cup with a hard-fought win in Macau, China, on Tuesday.
Three-time Olympian Manika defeated USA’s Lily Zhang 3-2 (11-7, 11-2, 14-16, 5-11, 11-6) in 43 minutes. The Indian had lost 0-3 to Japan’s Miwa Harimoto in her first match of the tournament in Group 4.
World No. 43 Sreeja Akula went down 1-3 (11-8, 9-11, 13-15, 8-11) to Portugal’s Fu Yu in her first match in Group 2 in half an hour. Sreeja will take on China’s Wang Manyu, World No. 2, in her other group-stage fixture on Wednesday.
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Manav Thakkar, the only Indian man in the fray, will face Sweden’s Truls Moregard, Paris Olympics silver medallist, in a must-win match in Group 2 after suffering a 0-3 defeat against Park Ganghyeon of Korea.
Across the 16 groups in men’s and women’s singles, only the toppers will advance to the Round of 16.
Published on Mar 31, 2026