Liam Pitchford was knocked out of the WTT Macao competition as South Korea’s Jeoung Youngsik won a close match in the Battle Round Two stage.

Pitchford made a good start, taking the first game 11-6 against an opponent he had never beaten in four previous meetings, although the most recent of those was in 2016 in the last 32 of the Rio Olympics.

His opponent, ranked No 18 in the world, hit back to level by taking the second 11-8 but Pitchford looked to be back on track as he led the third 8-4. However, he was stunned as the Korean won the next seven points on the spin to go into the lead.

The fourth saw Pitchford mount a comeback of his own, from 8-6 down to lead 10-8, and go on to seal the game on his second game point.

And so to the decider. After the first four points were shared, Jeoung opened a 6-2 lead and never allowed Pitchford back, closing out the game 11-5 and the match 3-2 (6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5).