Sharath Kamal’s fifth and last Olympics ends in shock defeat in singles; Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra progress

India’s 10-time national champion Achanta Sharath Kamal suffered a shock defeat to Slovenian Deni Kozul, ranked 86 places below him, in his Round of 64 clash in the men’s singles event of the Olympics on Sunday.

The women gave India reason to be cheerful as both Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra romped to easy wins in their respective Rd of 64 clashes. Their wins mean it’s the first time India will have two women’s players in the Rd of 32 in the singles event at the Olympics.

India’s top-ranked women’s paddler Sreeja Akula entered the round of 32 with a clinical 4-0 win over Sweden’s Christina Kallberg while Manika Batra too looked confident in her 4-1 (11-8 12-10 11-9 9-11 11-5) win over 18-year-old Anna Hursey of Wales(Great Britain).

India’s Sreeja Akula plays against Sweden’s Christina Kallberg during a women’s singles round of 64 table tennis game at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP | PTI)

Sharath, ranked 40 in the world, was trailing the match 3-2 when he seemed to be in total control of the fifth game. He was leading 8-2, and looked certain to force the match into a decider. But the Slovenian fought back, then saved three game points to take the match into tiebreaks where Sharath made a couple of errors to lose the game and the match 2-4 (12-10 9-11 6-11 7-11 11-8 10-12).

It’s the 42-year-old Sharath’s fifth and last Olympics and he was chosen to be India’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He had told The Indian Express that reaching the quarterfinal would be the goal, and he had a decent draw to achieve that target too. But after winning the first game with relative ease, he allowed Kozul to claw back in the match. The Slovenian targeted Sharath’s backhand and the Indian struggled with defending the smashes.

Not all is lost though. Sharath still has the team event left in the Paris Games, though that’s a Herculean task as they face top seeds China in their opening knockout match.

A lot is expected from the Indian women paddlers at these Olympics and they didn’t disappoint in their opening singles round. World No. 25 Sreeja Akula romped to an easy 4-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8) win over Sweden’s Christina Kallberg in just 28 minutes.

She didn’t show any signs of nervousness in her first-ever Olympic match and that is a great sign going forward. Of course, she’s been in phenomenal form this year, winning the singles titles at the WTT Contender in Lagos and the WTT Feeder in Corpus Christi this year, becoming the only Indian to win WTT singles titles.

She will face Singapore’s World No. 52 Jian Zeng in the Round of 32.

India’s Manika Batra plays against Britain’s Anna Hursey during a women’s singles round of 64 table tennis game at the 2024 Summer Olympics. (AP)

Manika had a tricky tie against one of the most promising teen paddlers in Anna Hursey.

After winning the first three games, it looked like Manika too was going to have a straight-game win, but Hursey fought back brilliantly to win the fourth game. Manika was determined not to be brought down by that hiccup and went blazing in the fifth, to win 11-5. leading the match The 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Manika, seeded 18th in the tournament and ranked 28th in the world, won 11-8 12-10 11-9 9-11 11-5 over Hursey, who is world number 103.

Manika will face home favourite Prithika Pavade in the Rd of 32 clash.

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