Monaco, March 30 (IANS) Indian table tennis players made a disappointing start in the ITTF World Cup 2026 with both Manika Batra and Manav Thakkar losing their respective opening group matches on Monday.

Manika Batra, 47th in the world rankings, lost 3-0 (18-16, 11-4, 11-6) to Japan’s Miwa Harimoto in Group 4 of women's singles, while Asian Games medallist Manav Thakkar went down 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-8) to Park Gang-hyeon of South Korea.

Manika Batra will face Olympian Lily Zhang, ranked 42nd, of the USA in her final group stage match on Tuesday. Manav, however, faces an uphill battle in his final group game, which will be against world No. 2 and Olympic silver medallist Truls Moregardh of Sweden.

The tournament introduces best-of-five games for Stage 1 group matches, a notable change from previous editions. The 48 players in each draw are divided into 16 groups of three, with the 16 group winners advancing to the Stage 2 knockout draw, where matches are played as best-of-seven games as players compete for the historic Evans and Hammarlund Cups.

World No. 44 Sreeja Akula will begin her campaign with a tough draw against Olympic gold medallist and world No. 2 Wang Manyu of China.

No Indian table tennis player has ever won a medal at the ITTF World Cup. Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula competed in the 2025 edition of the tournament but failed to make it past the group stage.

Running from March 30 to April 5, the world’s finest table tennis players are competing for a USD 1 million prize pool. In this centenary year for the sport, the World Cup takes on added significance as table tennis celebrates 100 years since the ITTF’s foundation in 1926.

--IANS

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