[WATCH] Manika Batra, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Antim Panghal return to India after Paris Olympics campaign 

India’s table tennis stars Manika Batra and Ayhika Mukherjee and wrestler Antim Panghal returned to their motherland after their campaigns in the Paris Olympics 2024 ended in heartbreaks. The athletes landed in New Delhi on Friday, August 9.

Manika made history after becoming the first Indian paddler to reach the Round of 16 in the history of Olympics. She fought hard against Japan’s Miu Hirano in the quarter-finals before crashing out.

Manika was also a part of the team that advanced to the quarters of the women’s team event. But India lost to Germany to crash out of the competition. She won her singles match and guided India through to a win against Romania, but succumbed to pressure against the Germans.

She teamed up with Archana Kamath and Sreeja Akula, who recently became India’s highest-ranked player in table tennis. Manika also represented India in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

Ayhika, on the other hand, was a part of the reserves and did not get to play. The 27-year-old won the bronze medal in doubles last year at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

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Antim Panghal gets tangled in controversy at Paris Olympics 2024

Antim Panghal did not have the best of times in her debut Olympic campaign. She took part in the women’s 53kg freestyle event but failed to go beyond the first round. In the pre-quarters, Panghal lost 10-0 to Turkiye’s Zeynep Yetgil.

Panghal also found herself involved in a controversy and was called back to India after a disciplinary incident. The youngster tried to use her accreditation to help her sister get into the Games Village.

Her sister, Nisha, was stopped by the guards at the village and it led to the controversy. The Indian Olympic Association was not happy with the incident and decided to fly Antim back.

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