A file photo of India’s Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Indian table tennis pair of Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran were stunned in the quarter-finals by a Malaysian pair of Javen Choong and Karen Lyne ranked 153rd in the world.
Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran failed to secure a Paris Olympics 2024 quota from the World Mixed Doubles Table Tennis Olympic Qualification tournament in Havirov, Czechia on Friday.
The Indian table tennis players, ranked 18th in the latest ITTF mixed doubles world rankings, went down 4-1 (11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11,11-8) against Malaysia’s Javen Choong and Karen Lyne, ranked 153rd, in the quarter-finals. The eighth-seeded Batra-Sathiyan received a bye in the round of 16 of their knockout bracket.
This was the Indian duo’s second and last chance of securing a Paris Olympics quota at the World Mixed Doubles Table Tennis Olympic Qualifiers after suffering a quarter-final loss in the first knockout round on Thursday.
In the first knockout round, Sathiyan and Batra lost 4-1 (7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11) to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea pair Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, the 21st seeds, in the quarter-finals.
Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong eventually went on to win their knockout bracket and obtained a table tennis quota for their country at the Paris Olympics.
India have already secured Paris 2024 quotas for the women’s and men’s teams based on rankings, which also grants Indian table tennis players two quotas each in the men’s and women’s singles events.
The Czechia meet was the final qualifying event for the mixed doubles table tennis competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Quotas in mixed doubles events for the Paris Olympics can also be obtained through rankings.
The five highest-ranked eligible pairs [not already qualified and from a country different to those already qualified] in the mixed doubles world ranking, as of May 7, will obtain one mixed doubles quota place. Manika Batra-G Sathiyan are currently ranked 18th.