ITTF World Cup: Manika, Sreeja out in group stage

MACAO: Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula suffered a second round exit from the group stage after losing to top Chinese paddlers Wang Manyu and defending champion Chen Meng respectively at the ITTF World Cup at the Galaxy Arena here on Wednesday. ,

World No. 39 Sreeja lost to defending Olympic champion and World No. 4 Chen Meng of China 1-3 (4-11, 4-11, 15-13, 2-11) and finished second in the group. Manika Batra also finished second after losing to world No. 2 Wang Manyu of China 0-4 (6- 11, 4-11, 9-11, 4-11).

Earlier, both the paddlers had won their respective first round group stage matches on Tuesday.

There are sixteen groups in each men’s and women’s singles competition. The group stage matches consist of four games, with the win and loss ratio determining the final ranking that will help book a place for the knockout stages.