Manika goes down fighting against 17th-ranked Szocs

Indian table tennis star Manika Batra lost a hard fought battle against Romania's Bernadette Szocs in the pre-quarterfinals of the WTT Star Contender Ljubljana here.

Manika, who had stunned world number 15 Chen I-ching earlier in the competition, went down fighting against the 17th ranked opponent 4-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11 in a round of 16 contest on Friday night.

The Indian is ranked 36 in the world and is expected to rise up the chart following her pre-quarterfinal finish here.