Sharath loses to Japanese prodigy in India Open semis




India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta tumbled out of the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour India Open, capitulating to Japan’s thirteen-year-old sensation Tomokazu Horimoto here at the Thyagaraja Sradium on Saturday night.

Sharath, who survived two match points earlier in the day to outwit and outlast the tricky Paul Drinkhall of England in the quarterfinals, couldn’t unravel his fearless young opponent and lost 2-4 for a disappointing finish.

Harimoto Tomokazu celebrates his win

Harimoto Tomokazu of Japan waves to the crowd after win the game against Sharath Kamal Achanta of india during the men’s singles Semi Final match held as part of the of the 2017 ITTF WORLD TOUR India held at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex stadium in New Delhi India on the 18th February 2017
Photo by: Arjun Singh / SPORTZPICS

Horimoto will now take on World No. 5 and top seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov for the singles title on Sunday night.

In the women’s singles, Matilda Ekholm of Sweden will clash with Sakura Mori of Japan for the crown. Ekholm got the better of top seed Hoi Kem Doo of Hong Kong 4-3 to earn a shot at the crown. Mori braved past Wing Nam NG in a seven-game duel to book her place in the final.

Sharath began sharply taking a quick 3-0 lead in the first game. But the young lad clawed 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. He lost 7-11 to realise that he couldn’t take his little opponent lightly.

But Sharath soon found himself trailing 4-5, 6-8 and down two game points as well. He changed tack at this stage, resorting to his backhand serve to subvert the Japanese’s backhand flick. It paid dividends as he ended up winning it 13-11 to tie two games all.

That was, however, the end of his fight. He lost the next two games almost tamely to squander the wonderful opportunity to enter the final.

Earlier in the evening, Sharath Kamal found himself locked in a 4-3 battle of wits and patience with Paul Drinkhall of England. He had to abandon his natural, attacking game and grapple for every point as Drinkhall slowed the pace of the contest by keeping the ball low and short while also loading it with devastating spin.

He began strongly but got ambushed by Drinkhall’s slow kill to go down 1-2 by the third game. He pulled the next two back, only to get unnerved by a determined opponent to let the contest go into the decider.

Sarath looked to get his forcing shots going, allowing Drinkhall to take a handy 8-5 lead. But he soaked the pressure and rallied to catch up. He had to avert two match points too before winning the gripping battle 13-11.

Ovtcharov got past two gritty and tricky Japanese players, Yuya Oshima in the quarterfinals and Koki Niwa in the semifinals to gain his place in the title round of the $150,000 tournament.

It was a mighty scare in the afternoon, forcing him to dig deep  against Oshima to avert two match points to win 4-3. The night match was equally taxing as the young Niwa kept pace with him till the first five games. But Ovtcharov continued attacking with his backhand flick and raced away to a 11-2 victory in the sixth and a comfortable 11-8 win in the decider.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Author:

Aspiring Media Enthusiast, Cricket Tragic, Football Fanatic, Avid Reader, Amateur Photographer & Wannabe Sports Writer.

Cricket

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti enjoys gully cricket in Jaipur

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti enjoys gully cricket in Jaipur

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 4th, 2024

Jaipur, 04 February 2024: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti was in the pink city on Saturday where the Ambassador dropped by Rajasthan Royals’ home stadium ..

Football

New York New Jersey will host the FIFA World Cup 26 Final

New York New Jersey will host the FIFA World Cup 26 Final

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 5th, 2024

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy celebrated today’s announcement that the Host Region of New York New Jersey (NYNJ) was awar ..

Tennis

Leander Paes inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Leander Paes inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on December 19th, 2023

Former doubles world No. 1 Leander Paes was recently elected to receive the Ultimate Honor in Tennis – induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame &# ..

F1

Life Lessons learned from Sports & Fitness #TOSBDay

Life Lessons learned from Sports & Fitness #TOSBDay

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on September 26th, 2016

Held on Sept 1st, The Outstanding Speakers’ Bureau (TOSB) Twinterview consisted of sports panelists such as Mark Gallagher (Public Speaker on F1 race), Shayam ..

Boxing

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker set for huge showdown

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker set for huge showdown

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 15th, 2018

It looks like it will be a scintillating couple of months for fans of elite boxing. There is the prospect of the rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Ca ..

Other Sports

The 2023-24 Season of the Los Angeles Clippers: A Mid-Season Review

The 2023-24 Season of the Los Angeles Clippers: A Mid-Season Review

Posted by: Vikram Kamboj on February 15th, 2024

As the 2023-24 NBA season approaches the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Clippers have emerged as a formidable force in the Western Conference, showcasing their ..

One stop guide to all the latest sports news, reviews, opinions, fixtures and live scores from India and around the world.

Copyright © 2024 | The Sports Mirror