Table tennis great Sharath Kamal starts his farewell event with two wins in a day

CHENNAI: In what was a perfect start to his farewell event, Indian veteran Sharath Kamal was at his best at the WTT Star Contender on Thursday.
Partnering Snehit Suravajjula, Sharath made his way into the men’s doubles quarterfinals, but he wasn’t done yet. The 43-year-old put up a good performance in the singles match, securing his place in the second round. Sharath was hardly tested as he powered his way to an 11-7, 11-9, 12-10 win over compatriot Anirban Ghosh.
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Anirban gifted points to his opponent by committing too many unforced errors in the first two games. The 308th-ranked Anirban learned his lesson and started to push Sharath to the corners of the table in the third game. The lower-ranked player went on to lead 8-4, but Sharath, with all his experience, came back into the contest by saving two game points.
At 10-10, the 43- year-old unleashed a backhand to Anirban’s body and the latter was caught napping. The former India No.1 once again produced a good backhand and Anirban hit the ball long and wide to hand Sharath a win.
“I played as if tomorrow did not exist. I thought, if I do not win today, then tomorrow I have a break, and then the exhibition match on Saturday. Making it to the quarterfinals (in singles), semifinals or finals (in doubles) is pretty much a possibility,” Sharath said after the match.
“I have surpassed what I was expecting in the tournament because I did not know what kind of shape I would be in, especially the mental part, as I did not know if I would be able to produce my best.”
Payas, Divyanshi register upsets
World No. 221 Payas Jain from India registered a 3-1 (11-8, 2-11, 11-8, 11-3) upset win over fellow countryman Sathiyan Gnanasekaran to advance to the men’s singles second round.
Payas’s attacking game stood out, while Sathiyan struggled to counter effectively. The 20-year-old played more to Sathiyan’s body and backhand.
“I had the belief that I could do it against Sathiyan,” Payas said.
Later, 14-year-old Divyanshi Bhowmick secured a hard-fought 13- 15, 11-9, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6 win over Italy’s Giorgia Piccolin, who is ranked 200 places higher, in the women’s singles opening round.