World Table Tennis Championships: Manika Batra fails to create history for India

Houston: Star India paddler Manika Batra failed to bag a medal at the World Table Tennis Championships after crashing out in the quarterfinals of the mixed and women’s doubles events here. Just one win away from a historic medal, Batra and G Sathiyan lost to Japan’s Tomakazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata 1-3 (5-11 2-11 11-7 9-11) in the last eight round of the mixed doubles competition. Batra had another opportunity to create history but she faltered yet again, losing the women’s doubles quarterfinals with her partner Archana Kamath in straight games. Batra and Kamath were no match for Luxembourg duo of Sarah De Nutte and Ni Xia Lian, losing 0-3 (1-11 6-11 8-11) in a lop-sided contest.