Philippine table tennis players suffer setbacks in Olympic qualifier

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ Rose Jean Fadol and Jann Mari Nayre missed out on their chance to claim a berth in the Tokyo Games after absorbing painful defeats in the World Table Tennis Singles Olympic qualifying tournament in Doha, Qatar Tuesday.

Fadol came two wins away from snaring an Olympic spot after making the semifinals but she ran into World No. 32 Margaryta Pestotska of Ukraine and absorbed a 4-11, 4-11, 3-11, 2-11 drubbing.

Nayre, for his part, succumbed to Italy’s Niagol Stoyanov, 5-11, 4-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-13, in the quarterfinals of the men’s side.

Fadol and Nayre along with John Russell Misal and Jannah Romero, who were shown the door early, will have one last chance to make it to the quadrennial game as they shoot for the lone slot staked in the Asian qualifier set Thursday also in Doha.

It was still a respectable finish for both Fadol and Nayre, who were ranked outside the top 500 in the world but caught some big fish along the way.

Fadol stunned World No. 71 Debora Viverelli of Italy, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 8-11, 11-9, in the quarterfinals while Nayre pulled the rug from under No. 68 Lubomir Pistej of Slovakia, 7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-3, 11-9, in the round of 16.