The Indian paddler, Sreeja Akula, went down fighting against world no.7, Kuai Man of China, in the first round of the WTT Champions Incheon in South Korea on Wednesday.
Sreeja failed to convert her 2-1 lead in this first-round match against Kuai and faced a hard-fought defeat in five games (11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 5-11, 2-11) at the Inspire Arena.
With this, the Indian campaign at the tournament ended as Sreeja was the lone standing Indian after Manika Batra’s exit in her first-round match against another Chinese opponent, Qian Tianyi.
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A missed opportunity
Sreeja showed some brilliant shots to start the game, implementing her usual trick of using long pips against the Chinese opponent to clinch the opening game, 11-7.
Man had a better start to the second game, but Sreeja made a slight comeback and had a game-point, which she failed to convert, and thus, lost the game, 10-12.
Sreeja, however, clinched the third game to regain her lead, but that miss at the game-point hurt her chances, as Kuai Man showed her class to win the final two games by dropping just 7 points.
What’s next
The top Indian paddlers, including Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra, will now move to the ITTF Men’s and Women’s Singles World Cup next week, scheduled to start from 14th April in MAcau, China.