Sharath Kamal out of China Open

SUZHOU - India’s table tennis star Sharath Kamal lost in the first round of the China Open here Thursday.

The world number 39 went down to his doubles partner Par Gerell of Sweden 7-11, 4-11, 12-10, 7-11, 5-11 in the opening round of the main draw.

Kamal, who had to qualify for the main draw, earlier played Gerell twice and on both occasions the Swede got the better of him.

Gerell is 45 in the latest ITTF rankings, six places lower than Sharath, who shot up 27 places after winning back to back tournaments in the US and Egypt last month.

Three more players from India — Abhishek Ravichandran, Soumyajit Ghosh and Madhurika Patkar — are scheduled to play their first-round matches later in the day.