World Mixed Doubles Table Tennis Olympic Qualifiers: G Sathiyan-Manika Batra fall short of Paris 2024 quota in first stage

India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra failed to take their first shot at securing a Paris 2024 quota from the World Mixed Doubles Table Tennis Olympic Qualification tournament in Havirov, Czechia on Thursday.

Drawn in the Knockout 1, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra needed four consecutive victories on Thursday to win their bracket and obtain a mixed doubles Olympic quota for India on Day 1 of the competition.

The Indian table tennis players, ranked 18th in the latest ITTF mixed doubles world table tennis rankings, started their campaign with a 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6) win over Greece’s Stamatouros Georgios and Papadimitriou Malamatenia, ranked 201st, in the round of 16.

However, the eighth-seeded Sathiyan and Manika’s charge was halted by North Korean pair Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, the 21st seeds, in the quarter-finals. The Indian pair lost the contest 4-1 (7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11).

Sik and Yong had earlier upset Slovakian tenth seeds Pistej Lubomir and Balazova Barbora in the round of 16.

Though Sathiyan and Manika fell short in the first stage of the qualifiers, the Indian duo will get another bite at the cherry in the second stage to be played on Friday.

The 24 teams who failed to secure the two quotas in Stage 1 will again be divided into two knockout brackets for Stage 2 and will be seeded according to their performances in the first stage.

The two teams who win their respective knockout brackets in Stage 2 will obtain the remaining two quotas on offer at the Czechia meet.

India have already secured Paris 2024 quotas for the women’s and men’s teams based on rankings, which also grants Indian table tennis players two quotas each in the men’s and women’s singles events.

However, the Czechia meet is the final chance for India to obtain a berth in the mixed doubles table tennis competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics.