India's premier table tennis players Soumyajit Ghosh and G Sathiyan beat the odds to top their respective groups in the ITTF World Tour Platinum German Open here.
World No. 88 Sathiyan had to fight hard for his place in the next round. He got the better of Hong Kongs Man Ho Kwan 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-3 first but then had to dig deep to prevail against Romanias Ovidiu Ionescu.
He eventually won 13-11, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 3-11, 11-8, 14 -12.
Later in the evening, Sathiyan did one better, upsetting former world junior champion Jang Woojin 4-0. He is now just one step away from making the main draw.
Ghosh, ranked 94, romped past Chiles Alfonso Olave 4-1 and Quentin Robinot 4-0 to enter the main draw.
He began his campaign on a losing note against, going down to Olave 5-11 in the opening game. But he came back strongly to win the next four (11-5, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7) for an impressive victory.
He was much more assured against 64-ranked Robinot, winning 11-5, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7.
Indias other top players, Sharath Kamal Achanta and Harmeet Desai, however, bowed out of the tournament after losing their respective second matches Wednesday.
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