Doha, Oct 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan G kept the Indian flag flying at the Asian Table Tennis Championships here, beating their lower-ranked opponents respectively in the Round of 32 on Sunday.
However, it was the end of roads for both Sanil Shetty and Manav Thakkar in singles as they lost their respective matches.
Sharath, the four-time Olympic veteran, defeated Sokhiri Dzhalil of Tajikistan 3-0 in straight games, winning 11-6, 11-3, 11-4. Whereas, Sathiyan lost a game but came out unscathed beating Ahmad Khalil Al-Mohannadi of Qatar 3-1 (11-2, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9).
Meanwhile, Sanil Shetty went down to Japan's Shunsuke Togami in a hard-fought match, losing 2-3 after coming back from a game down twice as he ended with a 7-11, 11-9, 13-11, 9-11, 9-11 scoreline. Thakkar took a game off Kazakhstan's Kiril Gerassimenko as he was beaten 1-3 (10-12, 5-11, 11-8, 13-11).
India faced setbacks in the women's singles too as Ayhika Mukherjee, Akula Sreeja and Archana Kamath ended their campaign with defeats in Round of 32.
Earlier, Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee prevailed over Mongolia's Batmunkh Bolor-Erdene in straight games (11-6, 11-4, 11-4) in the women's singles to book a place in the round of 32.
In men's doubles, the pair of Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan made little work of Qatar in the opening match of the day to advance to the Round of 16 in the men's doubles.
Sharath and Sathiyan were then stretched to five sets by the Kazakh duo of Alan Kurmangaliyev and Kirill Gerassimenko in the pre-quarters. The Indians, however, ended with a hard-fought 3-2 (11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7) win.
The second Indian men's team featuring Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar also sailed to the last eight with convincing wins over Saudi Arabia and Indonesian pairs.
Meanwhile, the women's pair of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee made it to the quarter-finals by defeating Chen Szu-Yu and Li Yu-Jun of Chinese Taipei 3-1 (11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9). They had earlier knocked out Kazakhstan in the round of 32.
Results (Round of 32)
Men's singles: Sanil Shetty lost to Shunsuke Togami (JPN) 2-3 (7-11, 11-9, 13-11, 9-11, 9-11); Manav Thakkar lost to Kirill Gerassimenko (KAZ) 1-3 (10-12, 5-11, 11-8, 13-11); Achanta Sharath Kamal beat Zokhiri Dzhalil (TJK) 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-4); Sathiyan G beat Ahmad Khalil Al-Mohannadi (QTR) 3-1 (11-2, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9).
Women's Singles: Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Sakr Shibata (JPN) 0-3 (6-11. 5-11, 3-11); Akula Sreeja lost to Doo Hoi Kem (HKG) 0-3 (8-11, 10-12, 4-11); Archana Kamath lost to Shin Yu-Bin (KOR) 0-3 (3-11, 12-14, 6-11).
Source: IANS
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