Manika Batra out of Olympic qualification tournament

DOHA: Manika Batra was knocked out of the World Singles Olympic Qualification Tournament after she suffered a 1-4 defeat to Monaco's Xiaoxin Yang in the women's singles stage-I semi-final match in Doha on Monday night.

Despite losing the first two games, world number 63 Batra held her nerve and attempted a comeback by winning the third game. However, her higher-ranked opponent Yang, world number 44, didn't let the momentum slip and wrapped up the tie 11-9, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9.

In the quarter-finals played late on Sunday, Batra thrashed Uzbekistan's RimmaGufranova 12-10, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4. The other Indian in the fray, Sutirtha Mukherjee lost to Russian PolinaMikhailova 12-10, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 5-11 in a thrilling match.

Sharath Kamal and GnanasekaranSathiyan had made exits after suffering losses in their respective men's singles second round matches on Sunday.

The Indian paddlers will now shift their focus to Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, which is scheduled from March 18-20 in Doha.

Sharath and Sathiyan will be in action in the men's singles, while Batra and Mukherjee will play in the women's singles. In the mixed doubles category, Sharath and Batra will look to seal an Olympic berth. Agencies

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