Sharath downs World No. 16 Franziska to enter last-16 at WTT Star Contender Doha

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Mumbai, March 9: Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal produced a stunning performance to make his way into the last-16 stage with a thrilling 12-10, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 win over World No.16 Patrick Franziska in the men’s singles second round match at the WTT Star Contender Doha on Tuesday.

In a hard-fought five-setter tie, the seasoned campaigner and World No. 32 Sharath began the battle with a 1-0 lead before the German Franziska saw making a comeback to level the scores. Third and fourth game also saw equal domination from both the players as they took the match into the fifth set.

However, the nine-time senior national champion kept his calm in the crucial decider and got the better of Franziska to wrap up the match in his favour. Sharath will now face the winner of the match between Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh and German Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the pre-quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, other Indians Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and Manika Batra couldn’t manage to progress further after suffering defeats in their respective singles second round matches. While World No. 63 Batra fell short 7-11, 6-11, 7-11 against Japan’s Mima Ito, who is ranked third in the world, Sathiyan couldn’t manage to succeed against the Japanese sensation and World No. 5 Tomokazu Harimoto and suffered a 4-11, 5-11, 8-11 loss.