New Delhi: Coming from behind, the Indian women’s table tennis team of Manika Batra/Sreeja Akula/Archana Kamath came from behind to win the pre-quarters and win 3-2. This will be the first time that any women’s table tennis team from India will play in the final 8 of any Olympics. Moreover, it is the first time the Indian team has defeated the world No. 4 team of Romania in their maiden match of the Olympics.
🇮🇳🙌 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮! The Indian women’s table tennis team got their #Paris2024 campaign off to a winning start, defeating 4th seed, Romania, in the round of 16.
🏓 After India took the lead in the first two games, Romania managed to come back strong… pic.twitter.com/cRCyG5kEyi
— India at Paris 2024 Olympics (@sportwalkmedia) August 5, 2024
The Indian team used the tactics of “long pimples” which have been referred to by experts as one of the major reasons behind the win of the Indian paddlers. For the unknown, long pimples is a kind of rubber with taller pips at the back and front of a bat which gives the power to block the incoming spin on the ball.
Rising from the ashes like a Phoenix!
The Indian women’s team is on a dream run in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024. A team which struggled to even qualify for the Paris Olympics managed to qualify for the quarterfinals in their first appearance in an Olympics. Let us look at how the match unfolded:
Match-by-match details
Game 1- India Wins (3-0): Women’s Doubles
Sreeja Akula/Archana Kamath vs Diaconu Adina/Samara Elizabeta (11-9, 12-10 & 11-7)
Game 2- India Wins (3-0): Women’s Singles
Manika Batra vs Szocs Bernadette (11-5, 11-7 & 11-7)
Game 3- Romania Wins (3-2): Women’s Singles
Samara Elizabeta vs Sreeja Akula (8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8)
Manika Batra – the queen of Indian Table Tennis. 💥🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/L3dNElCKwh
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 5, 2024
Game 4- Romania Wins (3-1): Women’s Singles
Szocs Bernadette vs Archana Kamath (11-5, 8-11, 11-7 & 11-9)
Game 5- India Wins (3-0): Women’s Singles
Manika Batra vs Diaconu Adina (11-5, 11-9 & 11-9)
Where to watch the Paris Olympics 2024?
Media outlet Viacom18 has acquired exclusive rights to stream the 2024 Paris Olympics. Naturally, the Paris Olympics 2024 will be telecasted live on the Sports18 networks. The various languages in which the viewers can avail the benefit of the telecast of the Olympics are as follows:
- Sports18 1- English, Tamil and Telegu
- Sports18 2- Hindi
Fans can also watch the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 for free on the OTT on Jio Cinema across multiple languages.