WTT Contender 2021 | Sharath Kamal crashes out, ends India's voyage
Sharath Kamal is currently the top ranked Indian Table Tennis player
|Top-ranked Indian Table Tennis player Sharath Kamal crashed out of the World Table Tennis Contender event after losing to Germany’s Dmitrij Ovtcharov in the round-of-16 clash, in Doha, on Wednesday. Gnansekaran Sathiyan and Manika Batra had already taken the exit route from the meet.
Three Indians were in action at the ongoing World Table Tennis contender series in Doha, with the paddlers expecting valuable preparation time ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The voyage did not turn out as expected for them, as Manika Batra and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan were ousted in straight sets in the round of 32.
On the other hand, India’s top-ranked men’s paddler Sharath Kamal pulled-off an exciting 12-10, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 win over Germany’s Patrick Franziska (world no. 16) in the first round. In spite of the inspiring victory, the Chennai-based player crashed out of the tournament in the round-of-16, having lost to 12 ranked Dmitrij Ovtcharov in straight games to end India’s voyage in Doha, last Wednesday.
For now, the trio along with Sutirtha Mukherjee will focus on making the cut to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the World Singles Qualification Tournament. Manika Batra and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan recently won national titles in the women’s and men’s singles events respectively.
