Worksop's Sam Walker suffers second-round defeat at World Table Tennis Championships

Sam Walker was philosophical about his second-round defeat at the World Championships in Houston, where he went down to 2016 European champion Emmanuel Lebesson, writes Paul Stimpson.
Sam Walker exited the World Championship at the second round stage.Sam Walker exited the World Championship at the second round stage.
Sam Walker exited the World Championship at the second round stage.

The Worksop ace, ranked No 97 in the world, was drawn to face No 147 Daniel Gonzalez of Puerto Rico in the first round and came through with few alarms by a scoreline of 4-1.

France’s Lebesson was a different prospect as he is ranked 39 and was the 32nd seed at the tournament.

Walker gave a good account of himself and the match was neatly poised in the fifth game, before the Frenchman pulled clear to win 4-2.

Sam Walker exited the World Championship at the second round stage.Sam Walker exited the World Championship at the second round stage.
Sam Walker exited the World Championship at the second round stage.

Walker said: “I struggled with his serve at first but once I started to receive better, I got myself into the match.

“At 2-2 and 7-7, I had a few points there which were winnable and I couldn’t capitalise on that, but I can’t be too disappointed by the way I played.

“I thought it was okay, I did everything I could. I didn’t feel I played my best table tennis but I’m still quite happy with how it went. I could see some improvements there over what I’ve been doing recently.”

Walker, who was not involved in the doubles, will travel to Germany for the WTT Feeder event in Dusseldorf, which starts on December 7.

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