Sharath lone Indian in China Open
By IANSThursday, August 19, 2010
SUZHOU - Sharath Kamal is the only surviving Indian in the China Open Table Tennis after all his compatriots lost in the opening round here Thursday.
Kamal, ranked 39, lost to his doubles partner Par Gerell of Sweden 7-11, 4-11, 12-10, 7-11, 5-11 in the singles opening round but the two are still alive in the doubles event where they play German pair of Patrick Baum and Bastian Steger in the pre-quartefinals Friday.
Kamal had played the 45th-ranked Gerell twice before and on both ocassions the Swede got the better of the Indian.
India’s Abhishek Ravichandran, Soumyajit Ghosh and Madhurika Patkar also exited in the opening round.
Ravichandran, a defensive player, lost to Fudor Kuzmin of Russia 1-11, 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 9-11 while world number four Ma Lin of China brushed aside Soumyajit Ghosh 11-2, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.
Madhurika Patkar, the only woman to qualify to the singles main draw, lost to Mengyu Yu of Singapore 9-11, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 4-11.
