New Delhi: India’s table-tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das on Saturday booked their tickets to Rio Olympics after winning their respective final rounds in Stage 2 of the Asia Olympic qualification tournament in Hing Kong.
Brushing aside his four-year-old London disappointment and the third-place finish in the South Asia Zone qualifiers just a couple of days ago, Sharath fought his way back in the decisive final round contest to grab the second men’s slot on Saturday.
Sharat defeated Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan 4-3 (12-14, 11-6, 3-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6). Mouma, meanwhile, despite losing her final round in the morning to North Korea’s Ri Myong Sun 3-11, 9-11, 10-12, 5-11, had her chance in the losers’ final. and, as expected, the 32-year-old did not disappoint.
Mouma defeated Rimma Gufranova of Uzbekistan 4-1 (11-13, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7, 12-10) to book one of the two Rio Games slots. For Mouma, it will be her second Olympics as she had first competed in the singles event at Athens in 2004 along with Sharath.
