Indian paddlers lose in first round

The Indian challenge in the World table tennis championship in Paris came to a tame end on Wednesday, when all its four paddlers who made it to the main draw lost to higher-ranked opponents in the first round.

India's top player Chetan Baboor had no answer to the attacking game of Japan's Toshio Tasaki, ranked 41st in the world, and was thrashed in straight games 6-11, 9-11, 6-11, 8-11.

Young Achanta Sharath Kamal made a promising start against 57th ranked Christophe Legout of France as he won the opening game 11-2. But the Frenchman overcame the early hiccups to take the next four games 11-6, 11-6, 15-13, 11-6 and advance to the second round.

In the women's section, Mouma Das went down fighting to Hungary's Georgina Pota 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 12-14, 8-11, while Yao Lin Jing of Malaysia defeated veteran Mantu Ghosh 12-10, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5.

In the women's doubles, Mauma Das and Mantu Ghosh went all out for a win as they streched the Singapore pair of Xueling Zhang and Paey Fern Tan till the decider, but eventually lost 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 2-11, 11-8, 7-11.