New Delhi: The Indian pair of G Sathiyan and Manika Batra went down to Malaysia's Choong Javen and Lyne Karen in the quarterfinals of the World Mixed Doubles Olympic qualification table tennis tournament (stage 2) in Havirov, Czech Republic on Friday. The Malaysian won 4-1 (11-9 11-9 11-9 7-11 11-8) over their opponents from India, who needed to win three matches to qualify for the Paris Games in this category having got a bye in the first round.
Drawn in knockout 3, the Indian duo never came close to challenging their rivals from Malaysia as the later raced to a 3-0 lead. Sathiyan and Manika took a game but Javen and Lyne Karen sealed the issue in their favour by claiming the fifth game. The Indian players, ranked 18th in the latest ITTF mixed doubles world table tennis rankings, started their campaign in the tournament 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 on Thursday.
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 (stage 1). The Indian pair lost the contest 4-1 (7-11 10-12 11-9 6-11 6-11), leaving them with the daunting task of winning all their rounds in stage 2 on Friday.
While they got a bye in the first round, the Indian paddlers were no match for Choong Javen and Lyne Karen in their second match of the day. The 24 teams who failed to secure the two quotas in stage 1 were divided into two knockout brackets for stage 2 and were seeded according to their performances in the first stage.
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