NEW DELHI: Indian paddlers Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar, who are part of the contingent travelling for the Asian Games 2026, bowed out of the WTT Champions Macao event in first round after losing their respective singles matches. While Manush lost 0-3 (10-12, 5-11, 6-11) to Sweden’s Anton Kallberg, Manav was defeated 1-3 (12-14, 4-11, 11-9, 3-11) by sixth seed and World No. Alexis Lebrun of France.
Manush came into this event on the back of a Round of 16-exit in the WTT Contender Almaty, where he lost to Russian’s Denis Ivonin 0-3 (8-11, 6-11, 6-11). Meanwhile, the Europe Smash was the last singles event Manav had taken part in. There, he suffered a first-round exit after losing 0-3 (9-11, 8-11, 6-11) to Japan’s Harimoto Tomokazu. The Gujarat paddlers, ranked World No. 3 in men’s doubles together, will next be in action at the Aichi-Nagoya Asiad where they will take part in the men’s singles, team, and doubles events. Manush will also feature in the mixed doubles event with Diya Chitale. Agencies
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