London 2012: Paul Drinkhall Exits Olympics Singles Table Tennis Competition At ExCel

Paul Drinkhall Crashes Out Of Singles Competition

Paul Drinkhall, Team GB's 22-year-old table tennis prospect, crashed out of the singles tournament on Monday against Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Ranked world number 12, Ovtcharov had far too much for the Brit, sealing a 11-8 11-5 11-9 11-4 victory despite a partisan home crowd at the ExCel Arena in London's Docklands.

Drinkhall crashed out to Ovtcharov, ranked 54 places higher

Still, Drinkhall has made a name for himself over the past three days, with Sunday's victory of Yang Zi of Singapore one of the highlights of the Games so far.

The Brit will now be joined by Liam Pitchford and Andrew Baggaley for the team event, which starts on Friday.

Despite the defeat, the Middlesborough-born athlete remained upbeat, setting his sights on Rio de Janeiro Games in four years time.

Sunday win was a "good result", he said after Monday's defeat, adding: "Doing that on a big stage like the Olympics proves that I can beat those sorts of players."

And with Drinkhall's best years likely to be ahead of him, there's every chance that he can improve on this third round exit in Brazil.

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