Achanta Sharath Kamal reaches third round with hard-fought win

TOKYO: Achanta Sharath Kamal reached the third round of the men's singles table tennis competition, fighting back from a game down to beat Tiago Apolonia of Portugal 4-2 in 49 minutes at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

The 39-year-old Kamal, who had a bye in the first round, started off slowly as the Portuguese player raced away with the first game. Sharath got into his rhythm in the second game and went on to win 2-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 in a well-fought encounter.

The Indian, playing in his fourth Olympics, runs into reigning Olympic and world champion Ma Long of China, the top seed, in the third round.

It was a good win for Kamal, who won the Oman Open last year just before all sports activities were brought to a standstill by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kamal prepared well for the Asian Olympic Qualifying event despite being confined to his home in Chennai during the nationwide lockdown. And the results are there to see as he registered a crucial win to reach the third round at the Olympics for the first time.

He had lost in the second round in both Athens and Beijing. He did not play in the London Olympics and had lost in the first round in Rio de Janeiro. IANS

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