Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai won their opening round matches in contrasting styles to enter the pre-quarterfinals while second seed Vladimir Samsonov suffered a shock defeat to crash out of the competition in ITTF World Tour India Open here today.
Desai produced a special performance to beat higher-ranked Frenchman Tristan Flore while Kamal completed a comfortable win against Can Akkuzu, also from France.
World number 112 Desai outplayed 77th ranked Flore in the opening three games before the Frenchman fought back to take the Round of 32 clash into the seventh and deciding game.
Trailing 5-6 in the decider, Desai displayed his class to take the next six points and secure one of the biggest wins of his career. The eventual scoreline read 11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6.
"I have always found it tough against the French players. Therefore, really pleased to win this one. He played like he had nothing to lose after the first three games and I was a bit taken aback. The decider was very much a mental battle," Desaid told PTI.
A little later, 62nd ranked Kamal came out firing on all cylinders against the world number 129 Akkuzu. The Indian ran away with the first game before taking a 9-3 lead in the second.
However, he gave a few loose points to reduce his advantage before a crisp crosscourt forehand drive helped him take the game. Kamal led 9-3 in the next game as well but this time he did not falter and closed it out comfortably.
The fifth game was well contested but Kamal saw his opponent off for a 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8 win.
His next match against Japan's Yuto Muramatsu is expected to be much tougher. The world number 24 Japanese blanked Abdel-Kader Salifou of France in first round match.
"It was my first match so I was a little bit nervous. He got aggressive in the fourth game, so I had to match him on that front," said Kamal.
In other matches, Anthony Amalraj could not make much of an impact against Koki Niwa, the world number 19 from Japan, losing in four straight games.
It was also a forgettable day for the highest-ranked Indian woman player Manika Batra, who put up an ordinary effort against compatriot Mousumi Paul to go down 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 4-11, 8-11 in the opening round.
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Sanil Shetty continued his impressive run in the tournament with an upset win over world number 71 Patrick Baum of Germany. The Indian won 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 to enter the pre-quarterfinals.
India number two Soumyajit Ghosh, however, went down fighting against Germany's Ricardo Walther, losing 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-3, 6-11, 6-11 to bow out of the competition.
Results:
Men's Doubles (Round of 16): Tianyi Jiang (HKG)/Siu Hang Lam (HKG) Beat Harmeet Desai (IND)/Soumyajit Ghosh (IND) 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-3, 13-11; Masataka Morizono (JPN)/Yuya Oshima (CZE) Beat Can Akkuzu (FRA)/Joao Geraldo (POR) 11-0, 11-5, 11-8; Robert Gardos (AUT)/Lubomi Jancarik (CZE) Beat Ali Alkhadrawi (KSA)/Abdullaziz Bu Shulayabi (KSA) 12-10, 20-18, 11-09; Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sanil Shetty (IND) Beat Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN)Walkover; Benedikt Duda (GER)/Steffen Mengel (GER) Beat Ronit Bhanja (IND)/Arjun Ghosh (IND) 7-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7; Tristan Flore (FRA)/Quentin Robinot (FRA) Beat Paul Drinkhall (ENG)/Samuel Walker (ENG) 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7; Anthony Amalraj (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) Beat Omer Avi-Tal (PAN)/Jasper Merckx (BEL) 11-07, 10-12, 12-10, 11-07; Ruwen Filus (GER)/Ricardo Walther (GER) Beat Abdulaziz Al-Abbad(KSA)/Abdulaziz Alamri (KSA) 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6.
Quarterfinals: Masataka Morizono (JPN)/Yuya Oshima (CZE) Beat Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND)/Sanil Shetty (IND) 12-10, 11-1, 11-3; Benedikt Duda (GER)/Steffen Mengel (GER) Beat Anthony Amalraj (IND)/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) 5-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9; Ruwen Filus (GER)/Ricardo Walther (GER) Beat Tristan Flore (FRA)/Quentin Robinot (FRA) 11-4, 11-7, 11-8; Tianyi Jiang (HKG)/Siu Hang Lam (HKG) Beat Robert Gardos (AUT)/Lubomir Jancarik (CZE) 11-7, 12-10, 11-7.
Women's Doubles (Quarterfinals): Wing Nam NG (HKG)/Wai Yam Minnie Soo (HKG) Beat Manika Batra (IND)/Mouma Das (IND) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8; Matilda Ekholm (SWE)/Georgina Pota (HUN) Beat Sreeja Akula (IND)/Archana Girish Kamath (IND) 11-8, 11-1, 11-7; Hoi Kem Doo (HKG)/Ho Ching Lee (HKG) Beat Ankita Das (IND)/Madhurika Patkar (IND) 11-9, 11-7, 11-4; Po-Hsuan Lin (TPE)/Yi-Jung (TPE) Beat Mousumi Paul (IND)/Krittwika Roy (IND) 11-4, 12-14, 11-2, 10-12, 12-10.
Men's Singles: Harmeet Desai (IND) Beat Tristan Flore (FRA) 11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6; Koki Niwa (JPN) Beat Anthony Amalraj (IND) 11-4, 11-5, 15-13, 11-4; Tianyi Jiang (HKG) BeatBenedikt Duda (GER) 5-11, 4-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-3, 11-9; Yuto Muramatasu (JPN) Beat Abdel-Kader Salifou (FRA) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7, 11-5; Sharath Kamal Achanta (IND) Beat Can Akkuzu (FRA) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9; Asuka Sakai (JPN) Beat Vladimir Samsonov (BLG) 11-5, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4; Robert Gardos (AUT) Beat Samuel Walker (ENG) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Ruwen Filus (GER) Beat Quentin Robinot (FRA) 11-3, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6.
Women's Singles: Huajun Jiang (HKG) Beat Krittwika Roy (IND) 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11, 8-11, 8-11, 19-17; Mousumi Paul (IND) Beat Manika Batra (IND) 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8; Sutirtha Mukherjee (IND) Beat Ankita Das (IND) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9; Wai Yam Minnie (HKG) Beat Madhurika Patkar (IND) 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4, 11-9; Yi-Ju Wang (TPE) Beat Amrutha Pushpak (IND) 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9; Jieni Shao (POR) Beat Selena Selvakumar (IND) 11-5, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5.
