Popular teenage table tennis player Ai Fukuhara ran out of steam and had to make do with a quarterfinal finish in her final tournament before this month's world championships at the Japan League Big Tournament on Sunday.
Fukuhara, the highest-place Japanese woman in the current world rankings, was unable to respond to the expectations of 5,000 fans at Tokorozawa municipal gymnasium as she squandered two match points before going down in full sets to Saki Kanazawa.