Sharath stuns Franziska, enters pre-quarters in Doha
Doha, March 9
Indian paddler Sharath Kamal stunned world No. 16 Patrick Franziska to progress to the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals at the World Table Tennis Star Contender series here on Tuesday.
Sharath, ranked 32, beat his Germany opponent 12-10 3-11 11-7 7-11 11-9 in the second round match.
He will now face the winner of the match between Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh and German Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the pre-quarterfinals on Wednesday.
G Sathiyan and Manika Batra, meanwhile, bowed out after suffering defeats in their respective singles second round matches.
While world No. 63 Manika lost 7-11 6-11 7-11 to Japan’s Mima Ito, who is ranked third in the world, Sathiyan bowed to Japanese sensation and world No. 5 Tomokazu Harimoto. Sathiyan lost 4-11 5-11 8-11. PTI
