Young Soumyajit Ghosh's maiden appearance at the Olympics was a memorable one as he advanced to the second round of the table tennis event after Ankita Das bowed out on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Ghosh beat Brazil's Gustavo Tsuboi 11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 12-0 (4-2) in a closely-contested men's singles first round match at the ExCel centre.
There was disappointment in store in the women's section as Ankita had earlier lost 1-4 to Spain's Sara Ramirez.
Siligury boy Ghosh then took it upon himself to make up for Ankita's loss with a composed showing that belied his age and experience.
After winning the first two games, Ghosh let slip the advantage by suffering a reverse in the third, only to bounce back in the fourth game.
The 27-year-old Brazilian staged a comeback of sorts by taking the fifth game, but Ghosh ensured his passage into the next round by winning the sixth and penultimate game, much to the joy of Indian fans present at the venue.
Earlier, 19-year-old Ankita, playing in her first Games, fought valiantly to stage a comeback in the fourth game, but that wasn't enough as the Spaniard rallied to clinch the fifth game and match 11-9, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-2 in just 29 minutes.
© 2024 Rediff.com -