The Indian paddlers had a mixed outing on Saturday as Soumyajit Ghose advanced to the second round while Ankita Das crashed out in her opening fixture.
Soumyajit defeated Gustavo Tsuboi 11-9, 14-12, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10 after putting up a fine display in the men’s table tennis event.
The 19-year-old stole a march on his Brazilian counterpart by going 2-0 up. Despite Tsuboi’s attempts at fighting back (in the third and firth games), the Indian emerged triumphant in a close sixth game.
Ankita’s maiden Olympic campaign came to an end after she lost 1-4 to Sara Ramirez in the first round of the women’s event. Ankita went down 9-11, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 2-11 in a lopsided tie.
Ramirez shut Ankita out of the contest with a dominant showing in the first three games. Although the Indian fought back in the fourth, the Spaniard had no trouble in clinching the fifth game and with it, the match.
