KUALA LUMPUR: Choong Javen-Karen Lyne's hopes of appearing in the Paris Games were dashed following their semifinal exit at the Table Tennis World Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification tournament in Havirov, Czech Republic on Friday.
The Malaysian pair went down 11-5, 2-11, 8-11, 6-11, 5-11 to Romania's third seeds Ovidiu Ionescu-Bernadette Szocs.
This was their second and final attempt to book a Paris ticket after a quarter-final 5-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 5-11 loss to Luka Mladenovic-Ni Xialian of Luxembourg in the first knockout round on Thursday.
The tournament in Havirov offered two Olympic slots which ended up being taken by Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting-Doo Hoi Kem and North Korea's Kim Kum Yong-Ri Jong Sik.
National coach Beh Lee Wei said she was proud of world No. 153 Javen-Karen's fighting performance despite them falling short of qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
Lee Wei added that Wong Qi Shen, Leong Chee Feng, Javen, Alice Chang, Ho Ying and Karen will focus on the singles Olympic qualifier in Thailand next month.
