WTT Star Contender Doha: Indian campaign ends as Manika Batra exits in R16

India's star paddler Manika Batra's solid run ended in the pre-quarterfinal of the 2026 WTT Star Contender Doha, losing to Macao's Zhu Yuling in Qatar on Saturday.

Manika, the only Indian to qualify for the round of 16, fell short of the World No.5 Yuling in a straight-game, 6-11, 5-11, 9-11, match that lasted for just 23 minutes.

Earlier, she had two good wins against the reigning U19 World Champion Yu-Xuan Qin of China and the 16th-seeded Lee Eunhye of South Korea to reach the last 16.

She was fully dominated by Zhu from the start and was able to score just 11 points from the first two games, and was looking at a dreadful defeat.

She didn't lose her hope and came in strongly in the third game, taking a good 9-6 lead, but then she lost her momentum and lost five straight points.

Earlier, the other three Indian women's singles players in the main draw, Ayhika Mukherjee, Swastika Ghosh and Taneesha Kotech, faced a first-round exit.

In men's singles, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar were competing at the main draw, but they also faced a round of 64 exit on Wednesday.