Paris 2024 Olympics table tennis: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula star against Romania as India reach women’s team quarter-finals

Indian table tennis players Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath spearheaded the women’s team’s charge to quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.

In the women’s team event round of 16 tie, India, seeded 11th, defeated the fourth-seed Romania 3-2 in a best-of-five encounter. Manika Batra won both her singles matches, while Archana Kamath and Sreeja Akula combined to win the doubles match.

"We are really happy, because this was the first time the Indian team qualified for the Olympics," Manika said. "And we beat (one of) the best teams, the Romanians. I think we all gave our best.

"I'm really proud of myself and my team, how we played and supported each other. We are really happy, but we have to focus on the next match, the next round. We will give our best for ourselves and for our country.”

Earlier in the day, Sreeja Akula paired up with Archana Kamath to open India’s campaign in a doubles contest against Romania’s Adina Diaconu and Elizabeta Samara.

The duo of Sreeja-Archana got the team off to a terrific start, wrapping up the match in straight games 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-7) in 27 minutes.

Manika Batra, world No. 28, was up against Bernadette Szocs, the European Games gold medallist in women’s singles. Szocs, 10th in table tennis rankings, was off to a poor start with a string of unforced errors and never recovered, as the Indian table tennis player continued to build on the momentum.

Manika Batra overcame her higher-ranked opponent with ease in straight games 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7) to give India a 2-0 lead.

However, Romania fought back with consecutive victories to take the match to a decider.

Sreeja Akula, world No. 25, faced a tough challenge against the 35-year-old Elizabeta Samara in the third match. Despite winning the opening game, Sreeja lost 3-2 (8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8).

Bernadette Szocs then brought Romania back on level terms by beating Archana Kamath 3-1 (11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9).

Manika Batra took on the 61st-ranked Adina Diaconu in the decider and steered the team past the finish line. Manika won in straight games once again (11-5, 11-9, 11-9) to seal a 3-2 win for India.

This is India’s first appearance in the table tennis team events at the Olympics. In the quarter-finals, India will face the winner of the quarters match between the USA and Germany.