Liam Pitchford knocked out of ITTF finals at first hurdle
Chesterfield's Liam Pitchford fell at the first stage of the ITTF Finals in Zhengzhou as he ran into world No 6 Hugo Calderano in blistering form.
The Brazilian made a fast start, taking the first two games 11-4, and then held off a Pitchford resurgence to complete a 4-0 (11-4, 11-4, 13-11, 12-10) victory in the last-16 tie.
Pitchford was only the third British player ever to qualify for the event and the first since Paul Drinkhall in 2014, but closest the world No 15 and 12th seed came to getting into the match was when he held two game points in the third set.
Pitchford will next focus on the World Table Tennis tournament in Macau next week, ahead of the Olympic singles qualifying tournament in February and the World Championships in March.