World Table Tennis Contender: Sathiyan, Sharath lose; Indian challenge ends in Slovenia

China's Liang Jingkun defeated Sharath Kamal 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Contender, while G. Sathiyan lost to World No. 23 and sixth seed Darko Jorgic.

FILE PHOTO: Achanta Sharath Kamal of India in action.

India's challenge at the World Table Tennis Contender ended on Friday as G. Sathiyan lost to World No. 23 and sixth seed Darko Jorgic of Slovenia in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals at Novo Mesto (Slovenia) here. The Slovenian earned a 11-9, 11-3, 5-11, 11-5 win over Sathiyan.

Earlier in the day, China's Liang Jingkun, ranked World No. 10 and the seeded third, defeated Sharath Kamal 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.

READ: Sharath Kamal enters singles pre-quarterfinals

Outplayed in the first two games, Sharath put up a fight of sorts in the third. He had a game point at 10-9, but the Chinese won the next three points to win the match. Earlier on Thursday, Sathiyan defeated Harmeet Desai 11-9, 11-13, 12-10, 16-14 in the men's singles first round.

The results Men: Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Liang Jingkun (Chn) bt Sharath Kamal 11-6, 11-8, 12-10; Darko Jorgic (Slo) bt G. Sathiyan 11-9, 11-3, 5-11, 11-5. Thursday's results: Men: Singles: (round of 32): G. Sathiyan bt Harmeet Desai 11-9, 11-13, 12-10, 16-14. Women: Singles: (round of 32): Yangzi Liu bt Sreeja Akula 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 14-12. Mixed doubles (round of 16): Chua Josh Shao Han & Goi Rui Yuan (SGP) bt Archana Kamath & Manav Thakkar 4-11,