Indian campaign ends at Olympics in Table Tennis with first round defeat

Indian table tennis quartet lead by Achanta Sharath Kamal including Soumyajit Ghosh, Mouma Das and debutant Manika Batra ended their Rio Olympic campaign in first round.

The 34-year-old Sharath, competing in his third Olympic Games, lost to Romanian Adrian Crisan 1-4 (8-11, 12-14, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11).

World No.73 Sharath fought hard in all of the five games but the 36-year-old world No.90 of Romania was up to the challenge.

Bengal paddler Ghosh, playing in his second consecutive Games, lost 1-4 (8-11, 6-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-13) to Tanviriyavechakul Padasak of Thailand.

World No.150 Mouma failed to put up a fight against World No.58 Romania's Daniela Dodean Monteiro, as the Indian went down 2-11, 7-11, 7-11, 3-11 to bow out of the competition.

This was Mouma's second Olympic appearance after her debut in Athens 12 years ago. As a veteran paddler, Mouma was pipped to put up a strong fight but all hopes were dashed after her first round exit at the hands of Daniela.

Olympic debutant Manika gave a good fight but went down 2-4 to a superior 60th-ranked Katarzyna Franc-Grzybowska of Poland.

Manika lost 12-10, 6-11, 12-14, 11-8, 4-11, 12-14 to her opponent but will leave the Games with head held high because of her performance as a debutant.

It was the first time that four Indian paddlers qualified for the Summer Olympic Games.