WTT Contender: Sharath Kamal surrenders to World No.7 Lin Yun-Ju, India’s campaign ends

India’s hopes of securing a medal in the ongoing WTT Contender in Doha ended on Thursday as Sharath Kamal suffered a straight-set defeat against World No.7 Lin Yun-Ju in the men’s singles Round of 16 clash.

The World No.32 lost 6-11, 4-11, 8-11 against his higher-ranked Chinese Taipei opponent. Third-seed Yun-Ju, who came into the contest after getting the better of Germany’s Benedikt Duda, gave his Indian opponent no chance, claiming the opening game by a fair margin.

Known as the "Silent Assassin," the young left-hander continued his domination in the second game too as he stifled Kamal.

Ever wondered what’s in athletes kit bag for any match/tournament? Let me take you through what I usually carry for my matches! #WhatsInYourKit Watch full video here: https://t.co/phVls7e6jd @ittfworld @WeAreTeamIndia @Media_SAI @IndiaSports @ttfitweet pic.twitter.com/2IudoiidKd

— Sharath Kamal OLY (@sharathkamal1) February 27, 2021

Kamal, who was playing his first international tournament post the COVID-19 pandemic, showed some resistance in the third game. But he couldn’t hold on before finally surrendering to Yun-Ju.

G Sathiyan-Sutirtha Mukhrejee out of the WTT Contender

Big day tomorrow as I will finally get back on court for my first international singles match exactly after a year here in Doha at the WTT Contender event.Will take on the African legend Aruna Quadri from Nigeria at 18.30 hrs IST in the Men Singles Round of 32 on Table 1. pic.twitter.com/Hp9SmrSPeu

— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) March 2, 2021

Meanwhile, Indian mixed doubles pairing of G Sathiyan and Sutirtha Mukhrejee also bowed out of the WTT Contender after losing to French duo Emmanuel Lebesson and Jia Nan Yuan 0-11, 0-11, 0-11. Earlier, Sathiyan had lost his men’s singles Round of 32 clash against World No.20 Aruna Quadri of Nigeria.

India didn’t have a participation in the women’s main draw after Manika Batra, India's dominant number one and multi-medalist at the Commonwealth Games, and Sreeja Akula failed to get past their final qualifying round matches.

While World No.63 Batra lost to World No.69 Ganna Gaponova 5-11, 6-11, 14-12, 5-11, the 22-year-old Akula lost 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 5-11 in a thrilling tie against Russian Mariia Tailakova. They had earlier won two back-to-back matches in the qualifying rounds.

Harmeet Desai also couldn’t get past the qualifiers, losing 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 2-11 against Russia’s Alexander Shibaev in the men’s singles third round encounter.

The two sides of the @Olympics Games #Tokyo2020 gold medal 🥇Which side do you prefer? #UnitedByEmotion Like for left 👍RT for Right 🔁 pic.twitter.com/nGX9ruulpV

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) March 4, 2021

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