India's A. Sharath Kamal failed to seal the fifth Olympic qualifying spot at the Asian qualification table tennis tournament in Hong Kong on Saturday but still has a chance for a London Games berth.
Sharath lost 2-4 (12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11) to Kim Song Nam of North Korea.
Of the seven berths available at the qualifiers, six have already been grabbed and the lone seventh spot remains on offer. Sharath will have to bring in all his experience — first to beat the Chinese Taipei player Wu Chi-Chi and then defeat the winner of the match between Jang Song Man of North Korea and India's Soumyajit Ghosh.
If he does that, he will be the first Indian to make the Olympics for the third successive time. Sharath had mixed luck on Saturday. He played a tough match against World No. 1 Ma Long and lost 9-11, 2-11, 4-11, 6-11.
Earlier, he had played a gruelling 95-minute match to beat North Korean Jang Song Man 4-3 (11-8, 13-11, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-7).
