August 22, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 19, 1429

BEIJING, Aug 21: South Korea’s Ryu Seung-min, defending Olympic table tennis champion, was knocked out of men’s singles on Thursday in the round of 32 to cap a lacklustre showing in Beijing.

Ryu was slow off the mark against the relentless attack from Hong Kong’s Ko Lai Chak, world No 32, dropping the first three games. Ko won the match 11-7, 11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 5-11, 12-10.

“I was too hard on myself towards the end of the match, as I was so keen to win. I feel very regretful about losing the first three games so easily,” Ryu said.

Tenacious athleticism and a fierce topspin powered Ryu to gold in Athens but his form has slipped since then, as has his world ranking from 2nd to 8th.

Ryu had dropped five of his eight singles matches in the team event, though his countrymen compensated for his struggles to lift South Korea to a bronze.

“Even though there has not been a great deal of pressure on me, I have met many strong players in this tournament,” Ryu said.

Hong Kong’s Ko definitely counted among them.

“I know him well. I knew that I had to take the initiative in attacking. Both of us are poor at defence. Whoever attacked more had a greater chance at winning,” Ko said.—Reuters