Jann Mari Nayre goes down fighting

BUENOS AIRES – Filipino table tennis bet Jann Mari Nayre gave the world’s No. 1 player in the 18-under class some scare before bowing out Monday at the Tecnopolis Center here.

Nayre, an 18-year-old from Baybay, Bohol, was pitted against Kanak Jha of the US, needing a victory that would have propelled him to the round of 16.

The Filipino gave his best. Losing the match in straight sets, 13-11, 11-8, 15-13, 11-8, did not reflect the true complexion of their Youth Olympic Games matchup.

With the loss, coming off a split of his two matches last Sunday, Nayre bowed out of contention in this YOG.

“Sayang. Lumalamang naman (It’s a pity because we even led),” said Nayre, not trying to take anything away from his opponent who’s 3-0 so far in the tournament.

“Magaling talaga (He’s very good). May natutunan naman ako (But I learned something),” said Nayre of Kanak, a veteran of the Rio Olympics.

Also Monday, Nicole Justine Marie Oliva failed to qualify in the women’s 100m freestyle with a time of 57.33 seconds in the second of six heats.

Oliva was 0.58 second off the Anicka Delgado of Equador, winner of their head.

The California-based Oliva still has three events left – Tuesday’s 800m free, Wednesday’s 200m free and Friday’s 400m free.

Kiteboarder Christopher Tio lived up to the high expectations, landing in the top six among 12 entries, and keeping himself in good position.

There are four days of competition left in Tio’s event, each day getting tougher than the last.

Reigning Asian Games champion Yuka Saso and fellow golfer Carl Jano Corpus launch their bids Tuesday at the Hurlingham Club.

Fencer Lawrence Tan will also make his YOG debut in the foil event Tuesday while archer Nicole Tagle will see action in women’s recurve on Oct. 12.

Nayre came close to winning the opening set. He led 11-10 only to drop three straight points. In the third set, he dragged the top seed to another tiebreak before losing, 15-13.

Until the end, Nayre gave Kanak, the youngest player ever to make it to the ITTF World Cup (he was only 14 when he qualified in 2014), some anxious moments.

Nayre took the lead at 8-7 in the fourth set, and the top seed, once again, dug deep into his bag of tricks to pull off the tight straight-sets win.

Nayre defeated his opponent from Chile before losing to an Austrian last Sunday, leaving him in a must-win situation against Kanak.

“Yung sa Austria ang crucial,” he said.