Manika Batra Triumphs, India’s Table Tennis Stars Eye Historic ITTF World Cup Run

Indian table tennis stars Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula produced contrasting performances on Day 2 of the ITTF World Cup 2026 in Macau, People’s Republic of China .

Manika Batra , ranked 47th in the world , ended her group stage campaign on a positive note, registering a thrilling 3-2 victory over world No. 42 Lily Zhang of the USA . The match scores read 11-7, 11-2, 14-16, 5-11, 11-6 . Batra appeared poised to win in straight games, taking an early 5-2 lead in the third and earning two match points. However, Lily Zhang , former Pan American singles champion, mounted a spirited comeback, forcing a tie-break in the third game and winning the fourth to take the match to a decider. Under pressure, Batra regrouped to close out the match, finishing her group stage with a win. On Day 1, she lost to world No. 5 Miwa Harimoto of Japan , making her Tuesday performance crucial for her campaign.

India’s other entrant in the women’s draw, Sreeja Akula , ranked 44th globally , showed promise but eventually fell 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-8) to Olympian Fu Yu of Portugal . Akula had taken the first game but could not maintain momentum. She will face world No. 2 and Olympic gold medallist Wang Manyu of China in her final group match on Wednesday.

In the men’s draw, Manav Thakkar lost his opener to Park Gang-hyeon of South Korea . He will return to action against Olympic silver medallist and world No. 2 Truls Möregårdh of Sweden on Wednesday.

The tournament format sees group stage matches played in a best-of-five games format, while knockout rounds follow a best-of-seven system. Only the top player from each group advances to the Round of 16 , highlighting the intensity of each group stage match.

Historically, no Indian table tennis player has ever won a medal at the ITTF World Cup . Both Batra and Akula had competed in the 2025 edition but failed to progress beyond the group stage. With crucial matches ahead, India’s players aim to rewrite history at this year’s prestigious tournament.