Table Tennis
ITTF World C'ships: Manika Batra, Manav Thakkar advance to second round
The 18-year-old Ankur Bhattacharjee bowed out in the first round of his debut World Championships.
Manika Batra advances to the second round of the ITTF World Championships 2025. (Photo credit: Jio Cinema)
Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Manav Thakkar began their singles campaign with a dominant win in the first round of the 2025 ITTF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday.
Manika took a comfortable straight-game 11-5, 11-6, 11-8, 11-2 win over Nigeria's Fatimo Bello, while Manav took five games before knocking out (11-3, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 14-12) Timothy Choi of New Zeland.
For Manika, it was a commanding lead throughout, and she didn't allow Fatima to trouble her. She lost just 21 points across the four games, setting up her round of 64 matchup against Korea's Gahyeon Park.
On the other hand, the highest-ranked Indian men's singles player, Manav, took a good lead from the opening two games, but then Timothy started playing aggressively, forcing Manav to make errors.
However, the Indian used his experience, held on to his composure to close the match in his favour, and booked a place in the round of 64.
The other men's singles player, 18-year-old Ankur Bhattacharjee, had a disappointing end to his debut World Championships campaign, losing to higher-ranked Lam Siu Hang of Hong Kong.
Ankur took the opening game and also had his chances in the following games, but he failed to maintain his lead and lost those games closely, ending his campaign in Doha, 11-4, 7-11, 9-11, 10-12, 8-11.
Later, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Yashaswini Ghodpade also lost their respective first-round matches to world top-40-ranked French players.
A mixed day in doubles
In the doubles category, India registered only one win in three matches, with Diya Chitale and Manush Shah advancing to the next round.
The world No.11 Indian pair took down the team from Algeria 11-2, 11-7, 11-6 in straight games, losing just 15 points throughout and wrapping up the match in just 16 minutes.
Earlier, the Indian mixed doubles pair of Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghodpade went down 11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 8-11, 10-12 in the first round against the French pair despite leading the match 2-0.
Later, Harmeet combined with Sathiyan in the men's doubles. But the duo had a first-round exit, losing 9-11, 12-10, 14-16, 10-12 to European medalists, Maciej of Austria and Ursu of Moldova.
