Paul Drinkhall’s dream is ended

Great Britain's interest in the table tennis singles event ended today with Paul Drinkhall’s third-round defeat by Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

The 22-year-old, a three-time European junior champion, went down 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 in a one-sided encounter at the ExCel.

Drinkhall caused an upset by beating Singapore’s Zi Yang yesterday but Ovtcharov, the world No12 and a silver medallist in the team event in Beijing, was a class above.

Drinkhall said: “Here and in the past, I have proved I can compete with the best players. I have beaten some top players.

“My win yesterday was a good result and doing that on a big stage like the Olympics proves that I can beat those sorts of players. It was important that I won the first set. I couldn’t do that and he kept his cool under pressure and closed out the match.”

Drinkhall is part of the Great Britain squad that will compete in the men’s and women’s team events, which start on Friday.