The Indian Table Tennis Team (Women) was drawn out of the competition by Germany in quarterfinals. India trailed by 1-2 and got defeated in the 4th (singles) round between Sreeja and Kaufmann.
Paris: Earlier today India and Germany contested against each other in the Women Team event Table Tennis. Germany dominated the Indian players from the get go and secured their spot in semis continuing their race for another Olympic medal after one Silver medal in the Rio Olympics. Although the Indian team cann’t go any further in the race they gave neckbreaking competion to their opponents. Manika and Archana alongwith Sreeja kept the team in opposition on edge and proclaimed how they came so far in the competition.
German counterparts Wan Yuan and Shan Xiaona took the lead in the first (doubles) round against India duo Sreeja Akula and Archana Girish Kamath. German players used their skillful shots in the first set and claimed it by 11-5 points. With even better teamwork and great coordination between the duo, Sreeja and Archana made their comeback and owned the 2nd set with 8-11 points. The tie intensified the 3rd set. To add to the challenge for the Indian counterparts, German players equalized the 11th gamepoint, later winning the set with 12-10 points.
Although the Indian players took risks, tried new shots and forced Germany to make mistakes, their shots fell short to score points and lost to Germany by 1-3 in the first round. The relentless German players showcased great footwork combined with speedy shots that honed the lead against India.
18 years old German player Annett Kaufmann challenged 29 year old Indian veteran Manika Batra in the singles. Manika Batra took the lead by winning the 1st set out of 5 sets, elevating her confidence.
Pressurised Manika proffered a lot of openings to her opponent leading to her defeat in the next set. Being a left handed player, Kaufmann made high speed shots with wide angular range giving no time to her opponent to shoot counterattack or defense. Kaufmann dominated the next sets while pressure was transparent in Manika’s body language. Manika’s defeat added another egg into the German’s basket.
In the 3rd singles round Archana was challenged by Shan Xiaona. Both the players showed their determination to win the match and vowed to not give-in. The first set marks the highlight of the whole quarterfinal where India won the set with her 6th gamepoint (19-17). The set recorded long rallies of max 6 shots each from both sides.
Archana was seen in her best form, always ready for a counterattack. Her confidence boosted up with every point she scored walking towards her victory. To everyone’s shock Archana turned the tables around in the 3rd round and gave India her 1st win of the match.
Sreeja Akula contested with Annette Kaufmann in the 4th round. Kaufmann again showed her dominance right from the start and won two continuous sets. While Sreeja didn’t back down and gave out a tough competition. The German player’s fast paced shots and advantageous height made it challenging for Sreeja to pose counterattacks and confirmed her win against Indian counterpart.
Sreeja’s swift twiddles and pushed attacks scored her few points, whereas the wide angular shots by her left-handed opponent added to her disadvantages.
The whole match witnessed a one sided predominance from the German team but the Indian team handled the pressure maturely and put forward a great fight. They couldn’t take Indian Table Tennis further but, of course, they made history by qualifying into quarterfinals. They took Indian Table Tennis to new heights and ensured improvements.
Indian women added glory to the Indian sportsmanship by achieving multiple historic achievements in a single Olympics. Manu Bhakar became the 1st and only Indian woman so far to bag two Olympic medals in a shooting tournament. Table Tennis veteran Manika Batra became the first Indian player to be qualified into quarterfinals. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat reached the finals after defeating the no.1 Japanese seed and Ukrainian counterpart and became the 1st woman to do so after Shakshi Malik’s Bronze in Rio Olympics 2016. Unfortunately she had to put her dream of winning a Gold medal in the Olympics on hold.
