India’s top paddler Manika Batra lost both her matches as the women’s team went down fighting to fifth seed Germany 2-3 in its opening group match of the World team table tennis championships in Chengdu, China on Saturday. Earlier, the Indian men blanked Uzbekistan 3-0.
After Manika lost her opening rubber to World No. 8 Ying Han, two young paddlers Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale punched above their weight to script wins over much higher-ranked opponents to give a huge boost to the Indian team's chances.
Sreeja pulled off the biggest victory yet of her nascent career when she defeated World No. 14 Nina Mittelham 11-9, 12-10, 11-7, before Diya attacked relentlessly to script an 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11 win over Sabine Winter, World No. 46.
