India's table tennis campaign got off to a poor start with Manika Batra and Mouma Das losing in the first round of the women's singles table tennis event at the Rio Olympics on Saturday.
While Manika lost to Poland's Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc 4-2, Mouma was defeated by Romania's Daniela Monteiro 4-0. With this, they missed a shot at history of becoming the first Indian women table tennis players to win a singles match at the Games.
Getting off to a promising start, Manika took the first game 12-10 before Grzybowska made a quick comeback to even matters 11-6 in the second.
Seizing a five-point lead early on in the third game, Manika moved to 7-1 before the Pole clawed her way back 14-12 to take a 2-1 lead. Some good counter-attacking play saw the 21-year-old Indian taking the fourth game 11-8 to level affairs at 2-2.
Though Manika saved a match point in the sixth game to make it 11-11 she couldn't her nerve to the finish with Grzybowska wrapping up the game and the match 14-12.
Earlier in the day, racing to a 5-1 lead early on, Daniela overpowered the Indian, thwarting her 11-2 in the opening game. Mouma offered a glimmer of hope in the second, trailing the Romanian by two points at 5-7 before Daniela wrapped up the game 11-7.
Mouma attempted to cobble up a resistance in the third, with both players locked at 5-5, before the Indian was blown away yet again, 11-7. Mouma was nowhere in contention to keep her hopes alive in the fourth game with Daniela taking a commanding 10-2 lead before closing out the match 11-3.
This is the 32-year-old's second Olympic appearance, having earlier featured in the 2004 Athens Games and India's highest-ever representation - four- in the sport.