Tomokazu Harimoto became the latest Japanese medal contender to crash out of the Tokyo Games on Tuesday when the 18-year-old world No. 4 was eliminated in the round of 16 of the men's singles table tennis competition.
On a day when gold medal favorite and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka was bundled out in the third round of the women's tennis, third seed Harimoto also made an earlier-than-expected exit on his Olympic debut, losing in seven games to Slovenia's Darko Jorgic.
Regarded as Japan's brightest young talent, Harimoto admitted he had been outfought by the 28th-ranked Jorgic after going down 10-12, 11-9, 11-3, 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.