The forehand went out and Manika Batra’s dejected reaction said it all. Her singles run at the Paris Olympic Games was over with a 1-4 loss to eighth seed Miu Hirano.

There were moments Manika — the first Indian to reach the singles pre-quarter finals at the Olympic Games — could have seized but in front of the Japanese’s guile, she just buckled.

The final scoreline after 47 minutes at Arena South read 6-11, 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 6-11.

In the second game, the 29-year-old was leading 6-1. As the Indian fans thought she would run away with the game, the short-statured Hirano, five years younger than Manika, made a comeback.

The Japanese paddler kept playing at Manika’s forehand. The move paid dividends as she led 7-6.

“My forehand just deserted me at the wrong time. It just did not happen,” an exasperated Manika would say later at the mixed zone.

“I was thinking about points, points and only points when my rival kept her calm. Maybe, I was too nervous,” Manika was candid. “It was a learning experience for me.”

From Thursday, Manika said, she would start preparing for the team event, a first for India at the Olympics, seeded 11th. The seasoned paddler, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath take on ninth-seed Romanians in the round of 16.

“We have good players in Sreeja and Archana. I will give my all. Hopefully, I will get away from the singles disappointment,” Manika said.

She would take inspiration from shooter Sarabjot Singh who failed in the individual but teamed up with Manu Bhaker to clinch the bronze medal on Tuesday.

“Any medal win for the country is an inspiration,” she added.

In the last round of 16 match for India on Wednesday, birthday girl Sreeja, who entered the pre-quarter finals earlier with a 4-2 win over Singapore’s Zeng Jian, went down to Sun Yingsha of China by a 12-10, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3 scoreline.

Despite taking a five-point lead in the second game, the 26-year-old Sreeja was outclassed by her Chinese counterpart for most of the match.

Seeded 16th, Sreeja is only the second Indian table tennis singles player to make the pre-quarter final at the Olympics Games, after Manika.