Table Tennis
WTT Finals 2025: Manush-diya face a straight-game defeat to Olympic champions
A tough start on debut for the young Indian pair, losing 7-11, 6-11, 8-11 to Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha of China.
Manush Shah and Diya Chitale. (Photo credit: WTT)
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Manush Shah and Diya Chitale had a disappointing start to the 2025 WTT Finals in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
They faced a straight game, 7-11, 6-11, 8-11 defeat to the reigning Olympic and World Champion pair of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha of China in just 22 minutes.
The match had a steady start as the Indian pair was looking good against the aggressive play of the Chinese, keeping a slight lead till half-time.
However, a couple of unforced errors then killed the momentum of the game, and Wang and Sun demonstrated their class, winning the opening game comfortably.
Similarly, they were at level terms for most of the second game, but then lost five consecutive points and fell two games behind in the match.
In the third game, the Indian pair had a good lead of 3 points for the first time, but then again, could not convert it despite leading 8-5 and faced a straight-game defeat.
Up next, they will have a must-win encounter against the home favourites, Wang Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem, in second group match on Thursday.
