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The fifth day of the main draw of Singapore Smash 2024 saw some incredibly close matches take place. Veteran paddler, Achanta Sharath Kamal, the only Indian still in contention in the USD 1,500,000 tournament, has put on yet another phenomenal performance.
Sharath Kamal stunned higher-ranked Omar Assar of Egypt in the pre-quarterfinals, continuing his spectacular run at the tournament.
A closer look at Achanta Sharath Kamal’s pre-quarterfinals result at the Singapore Smash 2024
India's most experienced table tennis star, Achanta Sharath Kamal, has showcased a resurgence of form so far with his stellar performances in the Singapore Smash table tennis tournament.
In his pre-quarterfinal match at Singapore Smash 2024, Sharath Kamal took on Egypt’s Omar Assar. The Egyptian paddler is currently ranked 22nd in the world, while Sharath Kamal sits at the 88th spot.
The first set began with Assar following a rather cautious approach, only attacking when he had a solid chance to capitalize on a weak return from the Indian. On the other hand, Sharath Kamal played error-free but aggressive table tennis. The negligible unforced errors from the Indian paddler proved to be a major factor in Kamal’s 11-4 win in the first game.
The second game saw both paddlers follow a similar strategy as they did in the first game, and Kamal’s consistent error-free performance proved to be a factor once again as he won the set 11-8.
The third set saw Omar Assar change things up a little and accelerate to an 8-4 lead, but Sharath Kamal quickly fought back to level terms at 8-8 and then 10-10 before taking two consecutive points to seal the match. The final scoreline of the match was 11-4, 11-8, 12-10 in favor of the Indian.
Kamal, who had to battle his way through the qualifying rounds to secure a place in the main draw, continued his remarkable run by defeating Omar Assar of Egypt in the men's singles round-of-16 match. He beat Andre Istrate, Yuta Tanaka, and Slovenia’s Deni Kozul in the qualifying rounds before getting the better of Nicolas Burgos and Darko Jorgic in the first and second rounds of the main draw, respectively.
He will now take on the winner of France’s Felix Leburn and Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson in the quarterfinals. His quarter-final appearance will also be the first time an Indian paddler has made it to the last eight of a WTT Grand Smash event.
