Rio review table tennis: Ping pong woes

For the first time, four Indian paddlers qualified for the Olympics, but not even the most irrational of optimists was counting on a medal. The biggest disappointment was our top player and world No. 68

Soumyajit Ghosh

's tame defeat at the hands of Padasak Tanviriyavechakul. Sharath Kamal let himself down by playing a tactically poor match against Romanian Adrian Crisan.

Mouma Das

, on the other hand, was outplayed by a far superior rival."I was tense and a bit overawed by the occasion with so many people screaming for Brazilians playing on adjoining tables," said Mouma.

RESULTS

AS Kamal lost 1-4 (8-11, 12-14, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11) to A Crisan (Romania); S Ghosh lost 1-4 (8-11, 6-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-13) to P Tanviriyavechakul (Thailand); M Das lost 0-4 (2-11, 7-11, 7-11, 3-11) to D Monteiro Dodean (Romania); M Batra lost 2-4 (12-10, 6-11, 12-14, 11-8, 4-11, 12-14) to Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc (Poland).