Poulomi Ghatak's gallant victory over world number 91 Iveta Vacenovska was in vain an India went down 1-3 to the Czech Republic in the women's division of the World Table Tennis Championships in Bremen, Germany, on Tuesday.
Ghatak, ranked a lowly 225, upset Vacenovska 3-2 and was well on her way for another big win against Renata Strbikova in the fourth match, but lost the gruelling battle 2-3.
National champion Mouma Das and Nandita Saha lost their respective matches as the 15th seeded Czech Republic registered their first win of the championship, having lost their first match to China.
India, playing in the top division after a gap of 25 years, is the last seeded team at 24th place.
They have two points after two defeats, the first being to Romania on Monday.
Ghatak provided the right start for India as she rallied to beat Vacenovska 11-5, 14-12, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6.
Strbikova then beat Mouma Das 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 to level the tie while Jona Dobesova got the better of Nandita Saha 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 15-13 to give a 2-0 lead to her team.
It was left to Ghatak to bring India back into the match as she took on Stribikova, 84 places higher than her in the rankings. Ghatak put up an impressive show but lost 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 15-13, 4-11.
India next plays Serbia on Wednesday.
