WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 | Archana Kamath in quarters, G Sathiyan loses in second round

09/24/2021

Young Indian paddlers Archana Kamath and Sreeja Akula impressed in the women's singles section of the WTT Star Contender Doha 2021, as they scored victories over higher-ranked opponents, with the former making it to the quarters. In men's section, however, G Sathiyan lost his second-round match.

Indian Olympian G Sathiyan crashed out in the second round of the WTT Star Contender Doha 2021 men's singles competition on Thursday. The world no.39 from Chennai lost against Andrej Gacina of Croatia 0-3 (6-11, 6-11, 7-11), who is ranked below him in the rankings.

This defeat has come after Sathiyan was ousted from the men's doubles as well, along with his partner Anthony Amalraj. The Croat needed under 30 minutes to get the better of Sathiyan.

But Archana Kamath kept the Indian hopes alive in the women's singles event, and managed to make it to the quarters. World no. 132 Kamath sailed past Canada’s Mo Zhang, ranked 39th. The Indian won 3-0 (11-8, 15-13, 11-7) in her second-round clash. Later in the day, she beat Japan’s Miyu Nagasaki, 3-2 (11-13, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8) in the round of 16 match.

Now the youngster will face an uphill task in the quarters, as she will be up against Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kem, the world No. 15. The other Indian in the fray, Sreeja Akula, did well to beat world No. 21 Suh Hyowon of South Korea 3-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7), but lost against in her round of 16 clash against Bruna Takahashi of Brazil.

Meanwhile, all the Indian players from the doubles section bowed out of the competition on Wednesday.