Tokyo: Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal lost to Long Ma of China in Men's Singles Round 3 match on Tuesday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym Table 1 here.
The match scorecard read: 4-1.
Set-wise scorecard: 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4.
In a match that lasted 46 minutes, Sharath showed incredible composure but couldn't keep the brilliance of second and third sets going in the following games.
Kamal lost the first set 7-11, showing signs of nervousness but came back brilliantly in the second set defeating Long Ma 11-8. In the second game, both players showed equal promise and were 8-8 at one stage but Sharath came up with incredible rallies to win the second set against the reigning World and Rio Olympic champion.
The third set was the most closely fought contest. The scoreline: 13-11, reflected it all.
The fourth game proved to be one-sided affair as Long registered a comfortable 11-4 victory following by the fifth game which reflected the same numbers.
The Chinese accepted he had a tough outing.
"It was a tough match. Of course at the Olympics every match, no matter the opponent, no matter the country, it's always tough," Ma Long said after the match.
"I did prepare for difficulties. The third game was crucial. After gutting it out the last two games were better," he said.
With Sharath's defeat, India's challenge has ended in table tennis at the Games. Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee and G Sathiyan have all exited the singles competition.
