Paddler Achanta Sharat Kamal’s impressive run at the WTT Star Contender Doha came to an end after the Indian suffered a 9-11, 8-11, 6-11 defeat at the hands of World No. 12 Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals match on Wednesday.
The World No. 32 Sharath, who surprised World No. 16 Germany’s Patrick Franziska in the last round, started the game well and gave a tough fight to his relatively higher-ranked German opponent as the first two games of the match went neck-to-neck before the London Olympics bronze medalist Ovtcharov turning the momentum in his favour. The German further capitalised on the 2-0 lead and wrapped up the match to enter the quarter-final stage.
With Sharath’s defeat, Indian participation at the tournament came to an end. Earlier, Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and Manika Batra made second round exits in their respective singles categories.
