The Indian women’s doubles combination of Manika Batra and Mouma Das were beaten by the mighty Chinese pair of Ning Ding and Shiwen Liu in straight games in a women’s doubles quarter-final round match of the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, according to information received from Dusseldorf, here, on Friday.
Manika and Mouma, who became the first Indian pair to reach the quarter-finals, put up quite a challenge to the Chinese opponents in the opening two games. But, the Indians were unable to match the superior play of Ning and Shiwen and went down 7-11, 7-11, 1-11, 3-11.
This was by far the best outing for an Indian pair in any world championships and, understandably, both Manika and Mouma, who set a milestone with her 16th appearance in Germany, were both sad and happy.
“We did our best and are elated to have entered the quarterfinals. We got a bit lucky yesterday but combined really well to reach this important stage,” said Mouma, who is the first Asian to register most number of appearances in worlds.
Earlier, the Indian pair got a walkover from the combined Netherlands and Polish pair of Jie Li Jie and Qian Li in the pre-quarter-finals after the latter fell sick.
“We couldn’t progress any further but were happy to take on the top Chinese players. It’s no shame losing to the best in business,” added Manika.
Meanwhile, Sharath Kamal Achanta is the only Indian left in the tournament and he is slated to play Chinese Lin Gaoyuan, who is ranked 40 in the world and seeded 33, in the round of 32 later in the day. Sharath, the lone Indian left in fray and ranked 54, is seeded 43 at Dusseldorf.
Results – Women’s doubles (quarter-finals): Manika Batra/Mouma Das (IND) lost to Ning Ding/Shiwen Liu (CHN) 0-4 (7-11, 7-11, 1-11, 3-11).