Amalraj loses, Indian challenge ends at Korea Open TT

The Indian campaign at the ITTF World Tour Korea Open ended after Anthony Amalraj lost to Frenchman Tristan Flore in the round of 32 at the Incheon City today.
The Indian paddler, who won 4-3 (11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9) against his Korean rival Hyundeok Seo found the French a tough nut to crack in the round of 32 and lost 9-11, 6-11, 6-11, 11-6, 7-11 in a one-sided affair.
It was a poor performance from the former national champion who put up a gritty show against Seo when stretched to the full distance.
In the morning, Amalraj played to a plan, attacking from the flanks and using both his back and forehands to great effect.

However, it all came undone in the second half of the day. Though the two have never met in any tournament before, Flore was all over his opponent pounding him with scorching forehands.
A normally attacking Amalraj went into the defensive and was never able to come out of it, though he managed to take a game off Fore.

Nevertheless, it was still a better display by him than his more famed compatriots like Achanta Sharath Kamal, who went down to Donghoon Kang of Korea 2-4 (8-11, 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 8-11) and Soumyajit Ghose, who lost 0-4 to Korean Youngsik Jung.

Harmeet Desai was another Indian who bowed out in the round of 64, but he at least put up a good fight against Singapore's Ning Gao. The Indian lost 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 6-11.
The Indians would now leave for Tokyo to participate in the Japan Open Super Series which begins from June 18.