Hammarlund cups

ITTF World Cup: 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.