Drinkhall falls short

Brave Brit fails tough German test

Last Updated: July 30, 2012 4:39pm

Paul Drinkhall: Third round exit from Games

Great Britain's table tennis hope Paul Drinkhall could not repeat his heroics from the previous round as he was knocked out of the singles by Germany's world number 12 Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

The Brit had already exceeded expectations by reaching round three, with Sunday's 4-1 victory over Singapore's Zi Yang likely to live long in the memory.

However, Ovtcharov was always going to operate on another level and Drinkhall could not take the extra step up in class.

Indeed, the German cruised to an 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 straight games win - a result that should not detract from Drinkhall's excellent effort in the tournament and, indeed, the match.

Britain's best table tennis player will next feature in the team event, in which he will be joined by Liam Pitchford and Andrew Baggaley.