Sharath lone Indian to qualify for Singapore Open main

Singapore, Sep 7 (UNI) Commonwealth and SAF Games gold medallist Achanta Sharath Kamal fought off a strong challenge from Japan's Koichi Takeya to top his group in the singles qualification round and book his place for the main draw of Volkswagen Singapore Open table tennis tournament here today.

Sharath Kamal, who is the highest ranked player in the qualification round, beat Takeya 11-5, 8-11, 17-19, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8. The world number 148 Indian paddler then got a walkover against Kuwait's Husain Al-Bahrani, who could not take the field, and qualified for the main round of the ITTF Pro Tour event which begins tomorrow.

However, compatriots Soumyadeep Roy and Subhajit Saha fell by the wayside, losing all their matches in their respective groups.

Roy went down to Jun Joo Bai of Korea 3-11, 4-11, 4-11, 8-11 but had a semblance of fight against Akira Kito of Japan before losing 11-7, 13-15, 3-11, 4-11, 11-8, 8-11.

Saha was also no match for Omori Takahito of Japan who blanked the Indian 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10. In his second match, Saha lost to Li Xiao Shuang of Singapore 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 7-11. 8-11.

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