Tokyo Olympics: Sharath Kamal loses 4-1 to defending champion, India’s desk tennis problem ends

Achantha Sharath Kamal put up a spirited combat however world No.3 Ma Long prevailed as India’s problem in desk tennis on the Olympics got here to an finish. Sharath Kamal’s defeat marked the top of the Indian problem in desk tennis. (Reuters Photo)HIGHLIGHTSSharath confronted Chinese defending champion and second seed Ma Long within the third sphericalHe reached the third spherical after a 4-2 win over Portugal’s Tiago ApoloniaSharath challenged Long for the primary three video games however couldn’t maintain itAchantha Sharath Kamal on Tuesday misplaced 1-4 to Chinese defending champion Ma Long within the third spherical of the boys’s singles on the Tokyo Olympics. Sharath’s defeat marks the top of the Indian problem in desk tennis in Tokyo.

It might have been a mismatch on paper – Sharath is positioned thirty second on the worldwide rankings and seeded twentieth within the Olympics whereas Long is third and seeded second – however the Indian stored up along with his opponent for the primary three video games.Sharath misplaced the primary sport 7-11 however then upped the ante within the second to race to an 8-4 lead. Long lower it again to 8-8 after which Sharath gained two consecutive factors to achieve two sport factors. He transformed it in his first try, thus taking the second 11-8.Tokyo Olympics Live UpdatesThe third sport went on a good keel with each gamers slicing one another’s leads. Sharath compelled the sport into deuce and Long ultimately gained 13-11. The Chinese then got here out all weapons blazing within the fourth sport, racing to a 6-0 lead earlier than Sharath managed to get his first level. The sport ultimately ended 11-4 in favour of the Chinese participant.Sharath reached the third spherical on the Olympics with a 4-2 win over Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia. Sharath struggled within the first sport however pulled himself up simply in time to win 2-11 11-8 11-5 9/11 11-6 11-9 within the 49-minute second-round contest.Sharath and Manika Batra have been knocked within the first spherical of blended doubles on the primary day of the Tokyo Olympics whereas Gnanasekaran Sathiyan was crushed within the second spherical of males’s singles. Sutirtha Mukherjee was knocked out within the second spherical of girls’s singles on Monday whereas Manika Batra misplaced within the third spherical later the identical day.Click right here for IndiaToday.in’s full protection of the coronavirus pandemic.