Sharath falls

The Indian contest at the World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohoma, Japan, ended with the defeat of Sharath Kamal in the third round of the men’s singles on Friday.

A couple of hours earlier, Sharath and teammate Subhajit Saha had lost in the third round of the men’s doubles in a tight match.

According to information reaching here, Sharath took on 50th ranked Gionis Panagiotis of Greece and won the first set 12-10. From there it pretty much went against him as his opponent won the next two sets, and although Sharath pulled the fourth one back, Gionis closed out by winning the fifth and sixth to take the match 10-12 11-9 13-11 11-13 11-8 11-8.

In the doubles, the Indians lost to Thiago Monteiro and Gustavo Tsuboi of Brazil, 11-13 11-7 10-12 11-5 8-11 11-9 11-8.

Meanwhile, China’s world No. 1 and hot favourite Zhang Yining became the first player to reach the women’s singles fourth round. The Beijing Olympic gold medallist demolished Daniela Dodean of Romania to move a step closer to regaining the title she won in 2005. She led a Chinese onslaught as Guo Yan, Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue, Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen all advanced.

In the men’s game, Chinese world No. 1 Wang Hao lost a game for the first time this week before beating Thomas Keinath of Slovakia in the third round. Three-time world champion Wang Liqin struggled to beat Adrien Mattenet of France, while Ma Long comfortably won against Zoran Primorac of Croatia.

“I lost my concentration in the fourth game, I made too many errors. I felt the pressure and I was nervous, too. I think I just played normal,” said Wang Liqin.