ITTF World Cup: Manika, Sreeja kick off campaign with wins

Macao (China): Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula won their respective opening matches at the ITTF World Cup in Galaxy Arena here on Tuesday. Sreeja defeated world No. 52, Natalia Bajor of Poland, 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5) while Manika came back from a game down to win 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8) against world No. 46, Adina Diaconu of Romania. Sreeja will next face world No. 4 Chen Meng of China to progress into the Round of 16, whereas Manika will face world No. 2 Wang Manyu of China in her other group-stage match. There are sixteen groups in each of the men's and women's singles competitions. Group stage matches comprise four games, with the ratio of wins to losses determining the final rankings that will further help to book a berth for the knockout stages.