World Table Tennis Championship: Sharath Kamal loses to Lin Gaoyuan as India's challenge ends

Dusseldorf: As Sharath Kamal lost to Chinese Lin Gaoyuan in the preliminary round, India’s challenge came to an end at the World Table Tennis Championship in Dusseldorf.

Gaoyuan won 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4 in a late round of 32 match on Friday night.

Sharath warded off early threats to win the first game on his second game point to give himself and the country a glimpse of hope.

But Gaoyuan, ranked 40 in the world and seeded 33, had other ideas as he surged into a 2-1 lead before dropping his second game when Sharath came close to realise his ambitions.

However, the Chinese steadied his game and did not allow any liberty for the Indian, ranked 54, to exploit any further.

Sharath admitted that it was a disappointment for him.

“When I made it 2-2, I thought I had a chance. But some mistakes on my part proved costly. Lin didn’t let me play my game in the latter part, he was too good,” said the Indian.

Two years ago, at the Suzhou world championships, Sharath was in a great form before pulling out at the same stage after a hip injury.

However, the best to come out of the ongoing world championships was the performance of Manika Batra and Mouma Das who had entered the quarterfinals before bowing out to the Chinese duo of Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen on Friday.