Thakkar goes down fighting

Manav Thakkar

Manav Thakkar put up a spirited fight against Japanese World No. 4 Harimoto Tomokazu before going down in the Round-of-64 while compatriot Manika Batra was knocked out by South Korea's Park Gahyeon in the World Table Tennis Championships here on Tuesday.

Thakkar, ranked 48th, matched his Japanese opponent stroke for stroke in the third and fifth game, but succumbed 11-13, 3-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 3-11. Thakkar though can take pride in his performance, having outlasted Harimoto in a number of long rallies.

Meanwhile, 46th ranked Batra looked out of sorts against Park, who is ranked a lowly 130. However, to the South Korean's credit, she comfortably tackled the long pimpled rubber that Batra utilizes on the backhand to win 11-8, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8.

What contributed to Batra's downfall was a series of unforced errors from her forehand.

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