WTT Star Contender: Sharath upsets World No.16 Franziska

The veteran athlete produced a wonderful performance against a higher-ranked opponent.

Star 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 Patrick Franziska saw making a comeback to level the scores. The 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 Patrick Franziska to wrap up the match in his favour and progress into the next round of WTT Star Contender. The Indian paddler 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 Indian players Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra couldn’t manage to progress further after suffering defeats in their respective singles second round matches. World No. 63 Manika Batra fell short 7-11, 6-11, 7-11 against Japan’s Mima Ito, who is ranked third in the world.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 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.

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