Ace Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal began the 2021 season with an impressive victory as he defeated Czech Republic’s Pavel Sirucek 17-15, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 in the men singles opening round at the World Table Tennis Contender Doha on Tuesday.
However, India’s No 2 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, who had also secured a direct entry into the main draw alongside 2006 Commonwealth Games champion Sharath, suffered a 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 loss at the hands of star African paddler and world No 21 Aruna Quadri in the Round-of-32.
The world No 32 Sharath, who was up against an international opponent for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, struggled initially when he was trailing by five points in the first game before recovering well with a strong counter attacking display to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. Despite losing the next game, the nine-time Indian national champion kept firing attacking shots to bag the third set comfortably.
Sirucek, world No 51, who was the…