The Indian led a fightback to narrow the gap to 11-12 but Watanabe again jumped to a 18-13 lead. Sourabh reeled off five straight points to draw parity but the Japanese managed to move ahead and pocket the opening game. However, a gritty Sourabh slowly erased the deficit and clawed back at 15-15. Sourabh had won the All India senior ranking tournament in Bangalore to make the cut for the Asian Games squad. He had clinched the Chinese Taipei Grand Pri Gold and finished runners-up at the Bitburger Open in 2016.

Source: Hindustan Times July 29, 2018 08:15 UTC