India’s campaign at the Europe Smash table tennis tournament came to an end on Thursday after Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar suffered a narrow men’s doubles quarterfinal defeat, while Diya Chitale exited the singles competition in Malmo, Sweden.
Manush and Manav, ranked World No. 3 as a pair, were involved in a gripping five-game contest against Belgium’s World No. 10 combination of Martin Allegro and Adrien Rassenfosse.
The Indian pair made a strong start by taking the opening game 11-5, but Allegro and Rassenfosse responded with an 11-6 win in the second. Manush and Manav regained control by winning the third 11-6, putting themselves one game away from reaching the semifinals.
The Belgians, however, refused to give in and forced a deciding game after edging the fourth 11-9.
The final game produced the most dramatic phase of the 40-minute encounter. Manush and Manav saved six match points as they fought to keep their campaign alive, but Allegro and Rassenfosse eventually prevailed 15-13 to complete a 3-2 victory.
The final scoreline read 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 13-15 from the Indian pair’s perspective.
The defeat was also a first for Manush and Manav against the Belgian combination. The two pairs had met twice previously, with the Indians winning on both occasions.
Earlier on Thursday, Diya’s impressive run from the qualifying rounds was halted by China’s Wang Yidi in the women’s singles round of 32.
Diya entered the match as India’s final remaining singles player but faced a difficult challenge against the fifth-seeded Chinese paddler.
Wang took control of the contest and secured a straight-games victory in only 20 minutes. She won the opening game 11-8 before dominating the second 11-4. The Chinese player then completed the 3-0 victory by taking the third game 11-5.
Diya’s elimination left Manush and Manav as India’s final hopes in Malmo, but their hard-fought quarterfinal defeat later in the day brought the country’s participation in the tournament to a close.
Despite pushing their Belgian opponents to the limit and surviving six match points, the Indian doubles pair ultimately fell just short of extending their run at the Europe Smash.
