On Tuesday, March 31, Day 2 of the ITTF Table Tennis World Cup in Macau, China, ended differently for two Indian women’s table tennis stars. Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula finished the day with different results. Three-time Olympian Batra defeated her USA opponent Lily Zhang, while Akula lost to Portugal’s Fu Yu.
World No. 47 Batra defeated Zhang by sets of 11-7, 11-2, 14-16, 5-11, 11-6 in a 43-minute match. Previously in the Group 4 match, the Indian lost her tournament opener to Japan’s Miwa Harimoto by 0-3. Batra was dominant in her attempt which sealed the win by 3-2.
Meanwhile, Lily had forced a tie-breaker in the third game and fourth game to take the game to the fifth and deciding round where Batra proved her dominance. The victory was her final group stage match of the tournament.
On the other hand, World No. 42 Akula was beaten by Fu Yu in her opening match of Group 2. The match ended within half an hour as the Portuguese defeated the Indian by a score of 1-3 and by sets of 11-8, 9-11, 13-15, 8-11. Sreeja will next take on World No. 2 Wang Manyu of China, in the other group-stage fixture scheduled on Wednesday, April 1.
India’s only male contender Manav Thakkar had lost his campaign in the tournament opener. He was defeated by South Korea’s Park Ganghyeon in the men’s singles event by 0-3. On Wednesday, he will face Olympic silver medalist and World No. 2 Truls Moregardh of Sweden. No Indian player has ever made it to the ITTF WC medal.
A look into ITTF Table Tennis World Cup 2026
The ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cup 2026 is being held in Macau, China from March 30 to April 5 featuring the world’s strongest singles players. The tournament features 48 players fighting for the prestigious Evans Cup in the men’s tournament and the illustrious Hammarlund Cup in the women’s event.
Out of those 40 players have secured their World Cup spots after qualifying from the Continental Cup. Besides, reigning World Champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, U-19 World Champions Ryuusei Kawakami and Qin Yuxuan have earned automatic entry.
The tournament will have best-of-five games for Stage 1 group matches. The 48 players from each draw will be divided into sixteen groups of three. All seeds have been determined by the World Rankings. The sixteen winners from the group stage will then advance to the Stage 2 knockout draw.
