Veteran paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal put up stiff resistance but it was not enough to prevent India from going down 0-3 to mighty China in the pre-quarter-finals of the men's Table Tennis team competition at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
The defeat ended the Indian men's campaign at the Games.
The Indian duo of Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar lost the opening doubles match to the legendary Chinese pair of Ma Long and Chuqin Wang 2-11, 3-11, 7-11.
Playing Fan Zhendong in the first singles, Sharath took the first game 11-9 with a superlative display, but the Chinese recovered to outwit the Indian 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 in the next three games as India fell 0-2 behind in the tie.
The 24-year-old Manav then played the second singles but failed to put any resitance against Chuqin, losing 9-11, 6-11, 9-11.
On Monday, the Indian women's team, comprising Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamat, prevailed over higher-ranked Romania 3-2 in a thrilling tie to enter the quarter-finals.
