India’s Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula faced challenges in the first round of the women’s singles at the 2025 WTT Singapore Smash on Monday. Batra lost 1-3 to Romania’s Elizabeta Samara, while Akula had a close 2-3 defeat against China’s He Zhuojia.
Akula’s loses in close match
This was Akula’s first tournament after losing to Diya Chitale at the 86th Senior National Championships. She had a rough start, losing the first game 5-11. However, she showed strong determination, winning the second game 12-10 and the third game 11-9, leading the match. Just one game away from victory, Akula couldn’t maintain her lead. She lost the fourth game 8-11 and the final game 11-13, ending her match after an intense 50 minutes.
Manika Batra’s campaign ends
Later, Batra also exited the competition, marking the end of India’s singles campaign in Singapore. In her match, she lost the first game 10-12 but came back to win the next 11-7, tying the score. Despite her efforts, Samara won the third game 12-10 and the fourth 11-7, moving ahead in the competition.
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Both players not in National Games
Both Manika and Sreeja Akula are not participating in the National Games. Out of total 10,000+ athletes 81 paddlers will be representing 12 different states and Union Territories in the National Games happening in Uttrakhand. Some Notable big names in competing in te games are Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Reeth Rihya Tennison, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee. The Table Tennis will start from 9th February.
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