Tokyo Olympics: Paddler Manika Batra Brushed Aside By World No. 17 Sofia Polcanova In Round 3

India’s star female table tennis player Manika Batra’s journey in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics 2020 has sadly come to an end.  On Monday, Manika was brushed aside by World No. 17, Austrian player Sofia Polkanova in the third round. 63rd-ranked Manika could not win a single set against 17th-ranked Polkanova. Sofia defeated Batra 4-0 (11-8, 11-2, 11-5 and 11-7).

The match lasted for just 27 minutes. With Manika’s ouster from Tokyo Olympics, the Indian challenge in women’s table tennis has also come to an end.

Earlier in the day, India’s other player  table tennis player Sutirtha Mukherjee also suffered a second round defeat.  In the second round, Surtitha was defeated by Portuguese player Fu Yu 3-11, 3-11, 5-11, 5-11 in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Sumit Nagal was knocked out of the Olympics by Daniil Medvedev of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the second round of tennis men’s singles in straight sets. Nagal, ranked 160th in the world rankings, lost to world number two Medvedev 2-6, 1-6.

The match lasted for one hour and six minutes. Medvedev dominated Nagpal with his strong serve and classy strokes.  Earlier, Nagal had defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in his first round match.  With this, Nagal became the third Indian tennis player to win the men’s singles event in last 25 years at the Olympics.