xtratime Logo

Xtra Time Web Desk: Veteran India paddler Sharath Kamal put up a spirited fight against reigning Olympic and World champion Ma Long, before losing out in the TT men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday. Sharath Kamal took a game off the legendary Chinese opponent before eventually losing 7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 4-11, 4-11 in 46 minutes. Following the defeat, India's challenge at the Games in table tennis ended. Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee and G Stahiyan exited the singles competition earlier.

After losing a close first game, Sharath took a 7-3 lead in the second with some perfectly placed forehands, and was also helped by some errors by Long. The Chinese legend soon reduced the margin by taking five straight points, inducing backhand errors from the Indian. A crushing forehand winner after a short rally gave Sharath a chance to close the second game and he sealed it with a slap shot.

Sharath responded extremely well to the balls hit close to his body to lead 4-2 in the third but Long took four consecutive points to snatch the lead. A backhand error from Sharath at 8-8 gave Long the advantage but the Indian did not let him close out the game easily. The Chinese took a time out while leading 12-11 and came back to seal the third game and take a 2-1 lead.

A flurry of errors from Sharath and some better hitting from Long put the Indian behind 0-6, a lead from where a comeback was not easy against a player of Long's calibre.

From an intense contest, it suddenly became a drab, one-sided affair with Sharath struggling to keep pace with Long.