India's Sharath Kamal (left) in action against Portugal's Tiago Apolonia during their men's singles round 2 table tennis match. (AFP)
Tokyo - Top-ranked Indian Manika Batra lost to Austria's Sofia Polcanova
Veteran Indian table tennis player A Sharath Kamal overcame a sluggish start to beat Portugal's Tiago Apolonia in the men's singles second round, but Sutirtha Mukherjee was overwhelmed by Potugal's Yu Fu in the Olympics on Monday.
The 39-year-old Sharath struggled in the first game, but fought back to win 2-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 in 49 minutes to set up a clash with defending champion Ma Long from China.
Long, the reigning world champion, has won every singles title in the sport.
Meanwhile, top-ranked Indian Manika Batra lost to Austria's Sofia Polcanova 4-0 ((8-11, 2-11, 5-11, 7-11) on Monday.
And Mukherjee was no match for the 42-year-old Yu Fu as the China-born player beat her in straight sets in the women's singles second round.
Sutirtha lost 3-11, 3-11, 5-11, 5-11 in a 23-minute affair against the world number 55.
The Indian world number 98 managed just two points on her serve to lose the first game in no time.