WTT Star Contender 2021: Sharath Kamal downs World No 16 Franziska; G Sathiyan, Manika Batra lose in Doha

Doha: Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal stunned world number 16 Patrick Franziska to progress to the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis Star Contender series here on Tuesday. Sharath Kamal, ranked 32, beat his higher-ranked rival from Germany 12-10, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 in the second-round match. He will now face the winner of the match between Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh and German Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the pre-quarterfinals on Wednesday. However, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra bowed out after suffering defeats in their respective singles second round matches. While world number 63 Batra lost 7-11, 6-11, 7-11 to Japan’s Mima Ito, who is ranked third in the world, Sathiyan was beaten by Japanese sensation and world number five Tomokazu Harimoto 4-11, 5-11, 8-11.