Anna nurse

South Paris Arena: Manika Batra's brave run in women's singles came to an end in the pre-quarterfinals with India's most successful paddler going down to Japan's eighth-seed Miu Hirano 1-4 in the table tennis competition at the Paris Olympics here on Wednesday.

Manika, who had so far defeated Anna Nurse of Great Britain 4-1 in the opening round and then thrashed France's Prithika Pavade 4-0 in the Round of 32, went down to her higher-seeded opponent from Japan to end her campaign in Paris. The 29-year-old Manika who was born in New Delhi but is now settled in Pune, lost 6-11, 9-11,14-12,8-11, 6-11 in the 47-minute clash.

Manika mounted a comeback in the second and third games, narrowly losing the second and then coming back to win the third but the higher-ranked Japanese proved too strong and thwarted her attempts in the fourth with another close win.