Indian challenge ends after Diya, Manush-Manav pair suffer defeats

NEW DELHI: Indian challenge at the Europe Smash table tennis tournament ended on Thursday after the men’s doubles pair of Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar, and Diya Chitale, the last remaining player in singles, were knocked out in Malmo, Sweden. World No. 3 Manush and Manav went down to Belgian World No. 10 Martin Allegro and Adrien Rassenfosse in a thrilling quarterfinal. The Indian duo saved six match points before losing the 40-minute contest 2-3 (11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 13-15).

It was the first loss for the Indians against the Belgians in the three meetings between the two pairs.

Earlier in the day, qualifier Diya was clean swept in her round of 32 clash against China’s Wang Yidi.

Fifth-seeded Wang took down the Indian 3-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-5) in just 20 minutes. Agencies

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