Tokyo Olympics: Manika Batra bows out with 3rd round loss to Austria’s Polcanova

India’s challenge in the women’s singles of table tennis ended when Manika Batra’s impressive run in the Tokyo Olympics came to end with a 0-4 loss in the third round match on Monday. India’s other challenger in the women’s singles, Sutirtha Mukherjee had lost her second round match earlier in the day.

The star Indian player, Manika, who had stunned world number 32 on Sunday, did not have the game to challenge the 10th seeded Sofia Polcanova from Australia. Manika, who had made a comeback from 0-2 down in her second round match, failed to throw a challenge to the attacking left-hander from Austria.

She lost 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 and 11-7 in straight games.

The only Indian left in the fray, Sharath, faces reigning Olympic champion Ma Long of China in the third round on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old Sharath struggled in the first game but pulled himself up just in time to win 2-11 11-8 11-5 9-11 11-6 11-9 in 49 minutes to set up a clash with defending champion Ma Long from China.

Arguably the greatest player of all time, Long has won every singles title in the sport, and is the reigning world champion as well.

However, with the way the 32-ranked Sharath played against his 59th-ranked opponent, it has given him immense confidence going into the round of 32 match against the mighty Chinese.

“I think it was one of the best matches I have played. The first game I don’t know what happened, I could not connect bat with ball, I was all over the place. From there I could lift myself up.

“My opponent expected a different Sharath but I surprised him with my backhand, which was fantastic. All the work I have done on my backhand for the last six month paid off.”Sharath is known for his booming forehand winners but an improved backhand allowed him to finish from both flanks.

Since Ma Long will be playing his first match, Sharath sees an opening there.

“He is yet to play (with bye in the first two rounds). So, there will be pressure on him. Like I have said earlier, I have never felt better about my game. Hopefully, I can challenge him,” added Sharath.

Mukherjee was no challenge to 42-year-old Yu Fu as the China-born bested her in straight sets in the women’s singles second round.

Earlier, Sutirtha lost her second round match to Portugal’s Yu Fu in straight games to crash out of her maiden Olympics.

The 98th-ranked Indian who showed remarkable grit for a come-from-behind win over Sweden’s Linda Bergstrom, looked completely off-colour to lose 3-11 3-11 5-11 5-11 in a 23-minute affair against the world number 55.

She just managed two points on her serve to lose the first game in no time.

Sutirtha took a timeout when trailing 1-4 in the third game to talk to her coach Soumyadeep Roy, seemingly to upset the rhythm of Yu Fu but the veteran remained unaffected.

(With PTI inputs)