ONE Olympic dream died but the other is very much alive for Middlesbrough's Paul Drinkhall.

With a world ranking of 58, Drinkhall’s surprise run through the men’s singles in Rio was brought to an end just one win from the quarter-finals, as Belarus rival Vladimir Samsonov proved just too strong on Monday.

But Drinkhall can take plenty from the three wins that took him to the business end of the draw, including claiming the scalps of two top-30 players.

Samson raced into an early advantage, seizing the first three games, before Drinkhall rallied, showing his character to save nine match points before Samsonov, the world number nine and former world silver medallist, prevailed 4-2.

“I left everything out there and I don’t really have any regrets,” he said.

“I tried to do everything the best I could and it wasn’t good enough. He’s obviously a great player, he’s been here many times before.

“It’s a shame because I feel I was really getting into the match, but he’s got a lot of experience and he’s been a great player for a long time.

“He’ll be physically fit enough to play seven sets – he does it probably every day. I would have been confident had I come back from 3-0, winning three sets in a row, but it wouldn’t have been a walk in the park in the final set. He’s a top player, it wouldn’t have fazed him, he’d have just come onto the table as if it was the first set again.

“From the first set it was very close, it was just a couple of points here or there that could have changed it.”

Drinkhall will now reset his sights on Friday’s team event, when he’ll join forces with British number one Liam Pitchford and Sam Walker.

Together the trio won bronze at the World Team Championships in Malaysia, meaning they arrive in Rio brimming with confidence.

And that self-belief will only be further buoyed by Drinkhall’s three match winning streak.

“I felt good this week and I felt like I could have gone further than this,” he added.

“It’s been a fantastic tournament, I’ve had some good wins, almost had a good comeback there. It’s been good fun and I’ve got to pick myself up for the team event.

“This gives me confidence going into the team event, I’ve just got to keep my game up now and get refreshed for Friday, making sure the team are confident for the game against France.

“We pretty much know who will play in the doubles already. It’s going to be a tough system for us I think because we don’t play as much doubles as the French have done. I normally play doubles with Liam Pitchford, but most likely that won’t be the case on Friday.

“We are very confident in the team as individuals and we just need to make sure we’re in the best shape we can be. And, like I did in the singles there, we need to make sure we have no regrets.”

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