ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup: Akash Pal only Indian to qualify for knockouts

Akash Pal was the only Indian paddler to advance to the knockouts of the 2026 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup in Haikou, China on Friday.

Pal registered a hard-fought 3-2 win over the higher ranked Feng Yi Hsin of Chinese Taipei in the final group stage match to book his spot in the Round of 16.

He beat the world No 55 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9 in a thrilling contest.

Earlier, the world No 108 ranked Indian had started his campaign with a 3-11, 9-11, 5-11 straight games loss at the hands of world No 1 Wang Chuqin of China on Wednesday.

He then won his second group match 3-0 against Mohammed Abdulwahab of Qatar to put himself in contention for the knockouts.

Big win for Ankur

Elsewhere, Ankur Bhattacharjee took down world No 27 Yuan Yu Chen of China in the final Group 6 match.

Bhattacharjee came-from-behind to beat the higher ranked paddler 11-5, 11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-5 in an surprise win.

Though having lost his first two matches Bhattacharjee was unable to advance to the knockouts, his last match victory knocked the Chinese paddler out of contention as well.

Manika, Snehit, Swastika exit

Meanwhile, Snehit Suravajjula finished third in his group with one win and two losses, failing to advance to the men's singles knockouts.

In women's singles, veteran Manika Batra lost both her matches against world No 1 Sun Yingsha and Yeh Yi-Tian of Chinese Taipei. 

She still finished third in her group, having received a walkover against Zaza Hend.

The other Indian in action in women's singles, Swastika Ghosh also finished winless. She lost all her three matches to finish on bottom of Group 6.