Britain's table tennis players endured another tough day at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in London on Friday.
British table tennis duo take opening set off top seeds
Britain's table tennis players endured another tough day at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in London on Friday.
Defeats on Thursday for Paul Drinkhall, Joanna Parker and Darius Knight in the men's, women's and male Under-21s events, had left any chances of success resting with the British doubles pairings.
But Andrew Baggaley and Liam Pitchford fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of top seeds Ma Lin and Zhang Jike of China their first match in the draw.
Baggaley and Pitchford were never expected to seriously test world champion Jike and his partner Lin, who won Olympic gold in Beijing three years ago.
But the British and English number ones will have learnt a huge amount after giving the Chinese pair a scare early in the contest.
Baggaley and Pitchford beat their illustrious opponents 11-9 in the first set before losing the next four 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 and 11-4.
Challenged
And the British duo, who have not played doubles together since the Commonwealth Games in October last year, will have taken heart from the encounter.
"I thought we gave a good performance, considering how long it has been since we played doubles," said Baggaley.
"I think to win a set off them bearing that in mind is a good achievement. We had some moments when we really challenged them."
In the women's draw, Parker and Kelly Sibley face a more winnable clash against Singapore's Li Jiawe and Wang Yeugu on Saturday.
