In Gujarat, Manika Batra could not sustain the pace and guile against World No. 6 Japanese Miu Hirano and went down 1-3 to crash out of the ITTF-ATTF 30th Asian Cup table tennis tournament being held in Ahmedabad today. Manika lost 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 6-11 in 20 minutes against the second-seeded Japanese, who finished third in her group because of a tie. The Indian, who had qualified for the Asian Cup through regional quota, put up a brave show but she was unable to negotiate the Japanese's forehand and clever use of the flanks. In the second match, Su Hyowon of Korea accounted for Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong 3-1 to enter the main draw. In men singles challenge playoff, Korea's Lee Sangsu, who beat Sharath Kamal yesterday, defeated Noshad Alamiyan from Iran in a tough match that went down to the wire. The Korean won 3-2 to advance into the last-eight stages along with Taipei's Chen Chien-An. Chen beat Nima Alamian 3-1, also from Iran.