Manika Batra's splendid run at the Paris Olympics came to an end following a meek surrender against higher-ranked Japanese Miu Hirano, hours after Sreeja Akula had made the Indian table tennis players' historic run at the Games better by making the women's singles pre-quarterfinals on her birthday.
The seasoned Manika had become the first Indian to progress to the Round of 16 at the Olympic Games on Monday and Sreeja, who turned 26 on Wednesday, joined her senior colleague in the pre-quarterfinals with a 4-2 win over Singapore's Jian Zeng.
Up against Miu, who has been in tremendous form, Manika lost 6-11 9-11 14-12 8-11 6-11 in the pre-quarterfinals. Manika enjoyed healthy leads in game two and three but Miu switched gears with ease to prevent the Indian from scripting more history.
"I could have put in more effort. I was not happy with the way I started. I am not happy internally. I got confidence after the third game but she played at a good level. It hurts. I had to be calmer," Manika said after the match.
The Indian star rued that she could not play to her strength and that was a major reason for her loss.
"My forehand was just not coming. I don't know why. It happens. I can be sad today, but I have to be ready for the country for the team event," she said.
Manika lost the first game in a jiffy but restricted her errors, and played more aggressively to zoom to a 5-1 lead in the second game.
The Japanese closed the gap by using her pacy strokes, which Manika struggled to handle. She was put on the back foot as Miu took a 9-7 lead. A backhand error from Miu made it 9-9.
Manika handed her rival a game point by hitting an angled forehand out. A repeat of the shot put her down 0-2 in the match.
The Indian ace had a great chance to mount a comeback as Miu hit a flurry of unforced errors in the third game, especially from the backhand side. Manika had a commanding 7-2 lead but Miu yet again erased the deficit to make it 9-9. The Indian held her nerves to save three game points.
Miu hit a backhand long to give the Indian her first game point and netted the next shot to hand a new lease of life to her opponent.
The 29-year-old Delhi player changed her approach, adding a tinge of aggression in the game in which she trailed 2-6 but fought back resiliently. She logged four straight points to level the score.
Manika hit a lot of shots on the backhand of her rival but Miu was up for the challenge and returned extremely well. She found her first game point when Manika hit a forehand out at 8-9. A backhand error on the next point gave a 3-1 lead to the Japanese.
The fifth game was one-way traffic, with Miu racing to a 5-1 lead in no time as unforced errors continued to come from Manika's racquet. She closed the gap to make it 6-8.
However, two backhand errors gave Miu four match points and sealed the match when Manika hit her forehand long.
Manika had lost to the Japanese in the previous outing between the two last August.
Earlier, Sreeja rallied to enter the pre-quarterfinals after a hard-fought 4-2 win over Singapore's Jian Zeng in a women's singles round of 32 match as Indian table tennis continued to make history at the Games.
Sreeja won the match 9-11 12-10 11-4 11-5 10-12 12-10 to join compatriot Manika Batra in the pre-quarterfinals, an unprecedented feat in the history of Indian table tennis.