MIDDLESBROUGH Table Tennis player Paul Drinkhall is out of the Tokyo Olympics after suffering defeat in the third round. 

Jang Woo-jin of South Korea inflicted the damage with a 4-1 loss to end Drinkhall's third chance of gaining an Olympic medal at his third Olympic Games. 

The 31-year-old's inclusion in Great Britain's squad was a last minute job after Vladimir Samsonov withdrew through injury shortly before the Games.

Middlesbrough’s Drinkhall battled his way through two rounds at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym – including a second-round triumph over Robert Gardos, a man ranked 33 places above him in the world.

“I’m disappointed, not necessarily with the performance, because I played well and have been playing well, I just think I had a couple of lapses in concentration,” explained Drinkhall. 

“They weren’t major but against someone of that level, one little lapse and all of a sudden you’ve lost five points in a row.

“There were a couple of times in that game that happened, I was leading 5-1 or 9-7, there’s then one slight change and you come off the boil and he took advantage of that.

“That’s the disappointing side of it. Overall, with the playing side of the performance I’m very happy, it’s just the mental side of the game.

“It was great going to the first Olympic Games and then the second and third, that’s great but it would be nice to be more than a three-time Olympian,” he mused.

“It’s a fantastic achievement and I’m very proud of that, hopefully there’ll be more."