<p>Indian paddler Sharath Kamal took a game off the legendary Ma Long, the reigning Olympic and world champion, before making a third round exit from the table tennis competition at the Tokyo Games here on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Sharath fought tooth and nail to take the second game from Long but eventually lost the men's singles contest 7-11 11-8 11-13 4-11 4-11 in 46 minutes.</p>.<p>The Chinese great acknowledged that Sharath made it tough for him.</p>.<p>"It was a tough match. Of course at the Olympics every match, no matter the opponent, no matter the country, it's always tough," Ma Long said after the match.</p>.<p>"I did prepare for difficulties. The third game was crucial. After gutting it out the last two games were better," he added.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/tennis/naomi-osaka-knocked-out-of-olympics-after-shock-straight-sets-loss-1013300.html" target="_blank">Naomi Osaka knocked out of Olympics after shock straight sets loss</a></strong></p>.<p>With Sharath's defeat, India's challenge has ended in table tennis at the Games. Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee and G Sathiyan have all exited the singles competition.</p>.<p>After losing a close first game, Sharath took a 7-3 lead in the second with some perfectly placed forehands, and he was also helped by some errors by Long.</p>.<p>The Chinese legend soon reduced the margin by taking five straight points, inducing backhand errors from the Indian.</p>.<p>A crushing forehand winner after a short rally gave Sharath a chance to close the second game in his favour and he sealed that with a slap shot.</p>.<p>Sharath responded extremely well to the balls hit close to his body to lead 4-2 in the third game but Long took four consecutive point to snatch the lead.</p>.<p>A backhand error from Sharath at 8-8 gave Long the advantage but the Indian did not let him close out the game easily. Long took a time out while leading 12-11 and came back to seal the third game and take a 2-1 lead.</p>.<p>A flurry of errors from Sharath and some better hitting from Long put the Indian behind 0-6, a lead from where a comeback was not easy against a player of Long's calibre.</p>.<p>From an intense contest, it suddenly became a drab one-sided affair with Sharath struggling to keep pace with Long.</p>
<p>Indian paddler Sharath Kamal took a game off the legendary Ma Long, the reigning Olympic and world champion, before making a third round exit from the table tennis competition at the Tokyo Games here on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Sharath fought tooth and nail to take the second game from Long but eventually lost the men's singles contest 7-11 11-8 11-13 4-11 4-11 in 46 minutes.</p>.<p>The Chinese great acknowledged that Sharath made it tough for him.</p>.<p>"It was a tough match. Of course at the Olympics every match, no matter the opponent, no matter the country, it's always tough," Ma Long said after the match.</p>.<p>"I did prepare for difficulties. The third game was crucial. After gutting it out the last two games were better," he added.</p>.<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/tennis/naomi-osaka-knocked-out-of-olympics-after-shock-straight-sets-loss-1013300.html" target="_blank">Naomi Osaka knocked out of Olympics after shock straight sets loss</a></strong></p>.<p>With Sharath's defeat, India's challenge has ended in table tennis at the Games. Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee and G Sathiyan have all exited the singles competition.</p>.<p>After losing a close first game, Sharath took a 7-3 lead in the second with some perfectly placed forehands, and he was also helped by some errors by Long.</p>.<p>The Chinese legend soon reduced the margin by taking five straight points, inducing backhand errors from the Indian.</p>.<p>A crushing forehand winner after a short rally gave Sharath a chance to close the second game in his favour and he sealed that with a slap shot.</p>.<p>Sharath responded extremely well to the balls hit close to his body to lead 4-2 in the third game but Long took four consecutive point to snatch the lead.</p>.<p>A backhand error from Sharath at 8-8 gave Long the advantage but the Indian did not let him close out the game easily. Long took a time out while leading 12-11 and came back to seal the third game and take a 2-1 lead.</p>.<p>A flurry of errors from Sharath and some better hitting from Long put the Indian behind 0-6, a lead from where a comeback was not easy against a player of Long's calibre.</p>.<p>From an intense contest, it suddenly became a drab one-sided affair with Sharath struggling to keep pace with Long.</p>
