The Indian challenge in the World table tennis championship in Paris came to a tame end on Wednesday, when all its four paddlers who made it to the main draw lost to higher-ranked opponents in the first round.

India's [ Images ] top player Chetan Baboor had no answer to the attacking game of Japan's [ Images ] Toshio Tasaki, ranked 41st in the world, and was thrashed in straight games 6-11, 9-11, 6-11, 8-11.

Young Achanta Sharath Kamal made a promising start against 57th ranked Christophe Legout of France [ Images ] as he won the opening game 11-2. But the Frenchman overcame the early hiccups to take the next four games 11-6, 11-6, 15-13, 11-6 and advance to the second round.

In the women's section, Mouma Das went down fighting to Hungary's Georgina Pota 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 12-14, 8-11, while Yao Lin Jing of Malaysia defeated veteran Mantu Ghosh 12-10, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5.

In the women's doubles, Mauma Das and Mantu Ghosh went all out for a win as they streched the Singapore pair of Xueling Zhang and Paey Fern Tan till the decider, but eventually lost 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 2-11, 11-8, 7-11.