Commonwealth Games gold medallist Achanta Sharath Kamal and fellow-paddler Soumyadeep Roy crashed out of the men's singles event after receiving sound thrashings from much superior opponents in the pre-quarter-finals at the 15th Asian Games in Doha on Tuesday.
Kamal cut a sorry figure against Pen Lung Chiang of Chinese Taipei, who won 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4.
Soumyadeep, however, won a game but that was all he could do as Yuk Cheung of Hong Kong won 11-7, 13-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-8.
Kamal found himself early in rough waters against ''Mr Crocodile', as Chiang, winner of the 1995 Brazil Open is called.
He was woefully short on resources and was down and out in 20 minutes.
Pitted against Hong Kong southpaw Cheung, who partnered Tie Yana to win the gold in the mixed doubles event at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Soumyadeep looked game for a fight.
After conceding the first game, he went neck-and-neck in the second, but Cheung's vast experience made all the difference. The Hong Kong paddler snuffed out the Indian's resistance to win the game and race to 2-0 lead.
Soumyadeep hit back with vengeance in the third and clinched it to stay in contention. Cheung's compact game, however, dashed any hope of an upset win as he won the next two games to book his passage to the quarter-finals after a 30-minute battle.
