The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Sharath advances

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Saturday, Jun 19, 2010
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Sport - Table Tennis

Sharath advances

Rakesh Rao

NEW DELHI: As expected, Sharath Kamal kept the home interest alive in the singles following a fairly comfortable victory in the opening round that otherwise shut the door on all other Indians in the $100,000 Indian Open table tennis championship at the Yamuna Sports Complex here on Friday.

Sharath, keen to shake off his recent inconsistent streak, looked in control for the better part of the 30-minute opener against Korea's Han Ji Min on way to an 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4 victory for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.

Impressive

Barring a brief spell in the third game where he lost the first five points, Sharath's game looked impressive. His blocks and soft backhand returns were often placed well to facilitate his fierce forehand to force the issue.

He now plays fourth-seeded German Patrick Baum, the left-hander who jumped 88 spots last season to break into the world's top-50 bracket.

Earlier in the day, Sharath and Subhajit Saha made it to the doubles quarterfinals after saving a match-point in the deciding game against Cai Xiaoli and Liu Zhongze for a 3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10 triumph.

Interestingly, they will play teammates Harmeet Desai and Devesh Karia who upstaged surprisingly off-colour second-seeded Germans Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Patrick Baum 11-6, 11-6, 11-3, 11-9. During the day, R. Abhishek fought brilliantly before losing to Chinese Taipei's Wu Chih-Chi in six games. The results (First round, involving Indians):

Men singles: Wu Chih-Chi (Tpe) bt R. Abhishek 11-3, 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6; Yang Zi (Sin) bt Anirban Nandi 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5; A. Sharath Kamal bt Han Ji Min (Kor) 11-9, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4; Steffen Mengel (Ger) bt Sanil Shetty 11-7, 5-11, 14-16, 11-5, 13-11; Huang Sheng-Sheng (Tpe) bt Subhajit Saha 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-9, 10-12, 11-3; Thomas Keinath (Svk) bt A. Amalraj 12-10, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6; Gao Ning (Sin) bt Sourav Chakraborty 11-3, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.

Women singles: Yu Mengyu (Sin) bt K. Shamini 11-3, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2; Huang Yi Hua (Tpe) bt Madhurika Patkar 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11; Jin Dal Rae (Kor) bt Mouma Das 11-5, 11-7, 14-16, 11-3, 11-6; Li Jiao (Ned) bt Pooja Sahastrabudhe 11-4, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5; Sayaka Hirano (Jpn) bt Nandita Saha 11-4, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7.

Boys U-21: Kim Min Seok (Kor) bt Soumyajit Ghosh 11-9, 11-3, 11-8, 11-1; Han Jin Min (Kor) bt Sanil Shetty 11-3,11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7; Kenji Matsudaira bt Harmeet Desai 11-7, 11-4, 11-8, 12-10; Jung Young Sik (Kor) bt 11-5, 11-7, 12-10, 11-4.

Girls U-21: Yu Mengyu (Sin) bt Ankita Das 8-11 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7; Kasumi Ishikawa (Jpn) bt Pooja Sahastrabudhe 11-6, 11-4, 11-4, 20-18 .

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