New Delhi: Achanta Sarath Kamal bowed out of the ITTF World Tour India Open, following a shock loss at the hands of Japan’s 13-year-old sensation Tomokazu Horimoto at Thyagaraj Stadium here on Saturday night.
Sharath, who survived two match points earlier in the day to outlast the tricky Paul Drinkhall of England in the quarter-finals, couldn’t unravel his fearless young opponent and lost 2-4 (11-4, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 13-11) for a disappointing finish.
Horimoto will now take on world no. 5 and top seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the summit clash. In the first semi-final, Ovtcharov came from behind to beat Niwa 8-11, 11-2, 9-11, 12-10, 14-16, 11-2, 11-8. Sharath began sharply taking a 3-0 lead in the first game. But the young lad clawed his way back and eased into a 8-6 lead. He hustled away to win it 11-7.
The seven-time national champion jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second game too; he, however, didn’t let the advantage slip away this time, taking it 11-5. He couldn’t sustain the supremacy though, getting hoodwinked by Horimoto’s deceptive flicks, losing 7-11. But Sharath soon found himself trailing 4-5, 6-8 and down two game points as well.
