Indian Table Tennis star Manika Batra suffered an 11-6, 11-9, 14-12, 11-8 and 11-6 loss against Miu Hirano of Japan at the Paris Olympics 2024. Batra was one of India's biggest medal prospects at the Summer Games and had a dominant run to reach the pre-quarters stage. The 29-year-old from Delhi defeated Prithika Pavade of France 4-0 in the Round of 32 stage and took down Great Britain's Anna Hursey 4-1 in her opening clash in Paris.
But the pre-quarterfinal match didn't start well for Manika Batra as the Japanese paddler took Game 1 stunningly with a margin of 11-6. In the second game, Batra showed signs of retaliation and took an early lead by Hirano zoomed back to level the scores at 6-6. The Japanese star took seven straight points and clinched Game 2 11-9.
Game 3 started positively for Batra as she took a massive lead but the relentless shot-making by Miu Hirano turned the game in Japan's favour. But the 29-year-old held her nerves to clinch the third game 14-12. The fourth game also started tough for the Indian as the Hurricane took a massive four-point lead. Hirano continued this stunning form and took Game 4 11-8. The Japanese star took the fifth and final game and eliminated Batra from Paris.
29-year-old Indian paddler on July 29 etched her name into history books as she became the first-ever Indian to reach the pre-quarterfinals at the Olympics in table tennis. The Indian medal prospect registered a commanding 4-0 win over World No. 18 and home favourite, Prithika Pavade to enter the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals.
“I am happy that I beat a French player in Paris. I defeated a higher-ranked player. I did not think of creating history and making the pre-quarters, there are more rounds, I will take it match by match and give my best as I always do,” Manika told PTI after her win over Prithika Pavade.