New Delhi : Local favourite Sharath Kamal remains the sole Indian in the fray after he won the battle of patience against Japanese defender Yuto Muramatsu to reach the men’s singles quarterfinals of the ITTF World Tour India Open table tennis tournament, here.
In his first meeting against world number 24 Muramatsu, 62nd ranked Sharath Kamal mixed caution well with aggression to down the Japanese 11-8 11-7 11-4 14-16 11-5.
From the outset, Sharath Kamal knew what he was up against. He negotiated the defensive play from his opponent with topspin drives, mainly from the forehand side. The win was no mean feat considering Muramatsu had won his first World Tour title at the Czech Open last year.
The fourth game turned out to be an intense one with Muramatsu and Sharath Kamal getting into long rallies. The Indian could not close out the match in the fourth but bounced back brilliantly in the following game to seal the issue after racing to a 9-3 lead.
He will meet familiar foe and Commonwealth rival Paul Drinkhall of England in the last eight match today.
Drinkhall downed another defensive paddler Ruwen Filus of Germany in five games earlier in the day.
“I should have closed it in straight games but could not despite having three match points. The fifth game was comfortable. He just could not handle my power. That was the biggest difference,” said Sharath Kamal adding that he is looking forward to playing against his rival and friend Drinkhall.
Later, Sharath Kamal’s compatriot Sanil Shetty lost to higher-ranked Robert Gardos of Austria 4-2 in pre-quarterfinals. —PTI
