National champion Rohit Dhiman missed a match point at 6-5 in the tie-break and went on to lose 10-8 to Kim Sung Hyok of North Korea in a men’s first round knockout phase match of the 15th World soft tennis championship at the RK Khanna Stadium here on Wednesday.
Rohit had squandered an opportunity earlier, too, when he failed to serve out the match after breaking for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven game contest. He eventually lost 4-3.
“I missed the line by a close margin. Bit, I am happy with the way I played,” said Rohit, coached by his father Bhupinder Singh.
Rohit had topped Group B after beating Hushunudbek Mirzaev of Kazakhstan and Great Britain’s Chris Sigley.
The other top Indian, Jitender Mehlda topped Group G beating Malaysia’s Darel Tze Yi Chee and Chittakone of Laos. He was, however, defeated 4-1 in the pre-quarterfinals by Dmitriy Makeyev of Kazakhstan.
Kamlesh Shukla was second in Group J, beating Vanny Pel of Cambodia and losing to Yoon Hyoungwook of Korea. The fourth Indian, Robin Santiago, also had similar results in Group Q, losing to Japanese Koichi Nagae and beating Nigel Jo Hsien Doong of Malaysia
In the women’s section, Himani Mor made the knockout phase topping Group G with wins over Marta Palfalvi of Hungary and Vietnam’s Phi Khanh Huynh, but was beaten 4-1 in the pre-quarterfinals by Thailand’s Pemika Cunaviriyasiri.
Former National tennis champion Archana Venkataraman defeated Eliza Ranjit of Nepal in Group J, but was beaten 4-1 by Dares Srirungreang of Thailand. She failed to reach the knockout phase.
There were two other Indian entries, but Amithasri Siva and Shubh Gulati finished third in their respective groups as they were up against the formidable Japanese, Chinese and Koreans.
The results:
Men (pre-quarterfinals): Dmitriy Makeyev (Kaz) bt Jitender Mehlda 4-1; Yoon Young Wook (Kor) bt Huang Yiping (Chn) 4-0; Kim Jinwoong (Kor) bt Chih Chuan (Tpe) 4-0; Koichi Nagae (Jpn) bt Lukas Trefil (Cze) 4-1; First round: Kim Sung Hyok (PRK) bt Rohit Dhiman 4-3(8).
Women (pre-quarterfinals): Kim Jyiyeon (Kor) bt Wan-Chi Chiang (Tpe) 4-1; Pemika Cunaviriyasiri (Tha) bt Himani Mor 4-1; Dares Srirungreang (Tha) bt Dede Tari Kusrini (Ina) 4-3.
