WTT Star Contender Doha 2022 | Manika Batra and Archana Kamath settle for a bronze in women's doubles
A file image of Archana Kamath.
|(Twitter)
After losing in the women's doubles semi-finals on Wednesday, Indian table tennis ace Manika Batra and her teammate Archana Kamath were eliminated from the WTT Star Contender Doha 2022. However, their participation in the semifinals was enough to earn them a bronze medal in the process.
India's campaign in the Doha meet came to an end with the duo's elimination. The world No. 6 Indian duo fell 0-3 (11-8, 11-6, 11-7) in the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar to Chinese Taipei's Li Yu-Jhun and Cheng I-Ching, one-half of the mixed doubles bronze medalists from Tokyo 2020.
Batra and Kamath, the second seeds in the women's doubles event, had a strong showing in Doha. In the quarterfinals, the Indian pair defeated Hong Kong's Soo Wai Yam Minnie and Lee Ho Ching, both members of the Hong Kong team who won bronze in Tokyo 2020. India's top-ranked women's and men's singles players, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, were both eliminated in the round of 16 in women's and men's singles, respectively.
Sharath Kamal, on the other hand, lost both his singles and doubles bouts in the first round. Sharath has entered the men's doubles main draw partnering Manav Thakkar. The mixed doubles campaign of Manika Batra and G Sathiyan also didn't make it through the first round.
Both Indian pairs who qualified for the main draw, Ayhika Mukherjee/ Sutirtha Mukherjee in women's doubles and Sanil Shetty/Amalraj Anthony in men's doubles, weren’t able to win their opening match.
