|
DUSSELDORF, Germany, June 2-- Twice winner Zhang Jike suffered his earliest men's singles exit at the World Table Tennis Championships as he became the only Chinese player to crash out of the third round competition here on Friday. Zhang, who won the championship in 2013 and 2011, was apparently not in form, making too many errors and losing to South Korea's Lee Sangsu 4-1 (9-11, 6-11, 13-11, 6-11, 10-12). It was his earliest exit since making his singles debut at the World Championships. He was stopped at the semifinals in Suzhou, China, two years ago. The 29-year-old Zhang, who won the gold medal in the 2017 London Olympics and silver in Rio, had a chance in the fifth game, fighting back from 3-6 down to pull ahead 10-7. But Lee, who looked steady and confident, managed to level the score at 10-10 and went on the seal his first win in their fourth meeting with Zhang. "If I had won the last game, I might have a chance," said a disappointed Zhang. The other four Chinese players went through to the last 16. Defending champion Ma Long, who defeated Zhang in the Rio Olympics final, met little trouble in beating Romania's Ovidiu Ionescu 4-1. World No. 2 Fan Zhendong breezed past Russia's Alexander Shibaev 4-1 and world No. 3 Xu Xin removed the last man standing from outside of Europe and Asia, defeating Hugo Calderano of Brazil 4-1. Lin Gaoyuan, the lowliest-ranked among the five Chinese men, edged India's Sharath Kamal Achanta 4-2. | 
