ITTF World Championships: G Sathiyan lone Indian left in singles contention after Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra bow out

G Sathiyan was the lone survivor at the 2019 ITTF World Championships as the Indian edged past Cristian Pletea of Romania 11-5 11-9 6-11 11-7 11-6 in a round of 64 match in Budapest. The World No 28 will meet Hugo Calderano of Brazil, ranked No 7, in the round of 32 later on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_5994631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Gnansekaran Sathiyan. Reuters[/caption] Sathiyan, who beat Belgian Robin Devos in the first round 4-0, had little difficulty against Pletea, ranked 131, as he disposed of him in 35 minutes. Sathiyan, leading 2-0, lost the third game as the Romanian won six consecutive points to cause a minor ripple. But the Indian was up to the task to sew it up winning the next two games. Sharath Kamal, on the other hand, was woefully out of sorts against Tomislav Pucar of Croatia when he went down 9-11 10-12 11-8 4-11 9-11 in the round of 64. The Indian, ranked No 36, failed to come to grips against the World No 58, who had better control over the match than Sharath. The Indian had earlier registered a 4-0 win over Uzbekistan’s Zokhid Kenjaev in the first round. Manav Thakkar, who had made the main draw cut, failed to go past Austrian Robert Gardos despite a very good fight. The young Indian paddler lost 13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-3, 2-11, 10-12, 6-11 in the round of 128. Both Manika Batra and Suthirta Mukherjee ended their world championships campaign, bowing out in the round of 64 on Tuesday night. Taipei’s Szu-Yu Chen beat Manika 11-2, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9 as the world No. 24 needed mere 34 minutes against the World No 56 Indian. In contrast, Suthirta managed to take two games of her rival before losing to Puerto Rican Adriana Diaz 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 5-11, 3-11, 9-11. Earlier Tuesday evening, the Japanese duo of Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato defeated Manika Batra and Archana Kamath 11-3, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 in women doubles round of 32. In Day four action, Sathiyan and Archana failed to cope with the higher-ranked Lee Sang-su and Jion Ji-hee in mixed doubles as the Korean pair moved into the quarter-finals with a 11-6, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8.