WTT Contender Muscat: Manush Shah beaten, Indian challenge ends

Indian table tennis player Manush Shah's run ended in the quarterfinals of the men's singles category at the ongoing WTT Contender Muscat event, in Oman on Thursday. 

The paddler lost to China's Chen Yuanyu in straight games (5-11, 8-11, 8-11) and with his defeat, the Indian challenge in Oman has come to an end.

Facing the Chinese, the Indian was always an underdog and it showed, as Chen raced to a 1-0 winning the first game with ease, and although Manush fought back in the second and third games, Chen was a challenge too stiff for Manush. 

The game ended in under 40 minutes, drawing curtains on his and subsequently the Indian challenge, with most of the big names exiting on Wednesday. 

Manush Shah's comeback 

On Wednesday, all but one result went in India's favor, with Manush scripting a spectacular comeback against sixth-seed Sora Matsushima and then eventually prevailing 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7). 

After going down 0-1 to the 17-year-old, Manush won the next two games, and despite Matsushima making it 2-2 by winning the fourth game, Manush prevailed in the decider, winning it 11-7 and advanced into the quarters. 

Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra, Ayhika Mukherjee all suffered defeats in the women's singles and this was also the case in all the doubles categories in what turned out to be disappointing day for the Indian contingent.