NEW DELHI: Star Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula were eliminated from the ITTF World Cup in Galaxy Arena, Macau, after losing their second-round group stage matches on Wednesday.
Sreeja, ranked 39th in the world, put up a fight but ultimately fell short against the reigning Olympic champion and world no. 4, Chen Meng of China, with a score of 1-3 (4-11 4-11 15-13 2-11), finishing second in Group 4.
Similarly, Manika Batra, who had a successful run in the first-round group stage on Tuesday, couldn't overcome the challenge posed by world no. 2 Wang Manyu of China. The Indian star lost 0-4 (6-11 4-11 9-11 4-11), securing the second position in her group.
The men's and women's singles competitions at the ITTF World Cup feature sixteen groups each.
The group stage matches are played in a best-of-four format, with the win-loss ratio determining the final rankings, which in turn decide the players' qualification for the knockout rounds.
(With PTI inputs)
