Indian Player makes history
The popular Sharath Kamal Achanta
photo courtesy of ITTF
Sharath Kamal Achanta has made Indian sporting history by being the first Table Tenins player to take out a Pro Tour singles event.
Kamal was able to win the Egypt Open event in Cairo defeating a player who had, in their 2 previous meetings given him no chance. This time however it was a completely different story with Kamal running through Li Ching with an imposing scoreline of 11-4, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4. Kamal had previously made the final of the Indian Open but at that time failed in his bid to win a Pro tour event. This time it was an emphatic win especially when you consider their competitive history.
The popular Kamal had a scare in the quarter final with a tight win against Abdel-Kader Salifou of France. He got off to a strong start winning the first game 11 – 3. Salfou was able to level with a 12 – 10 wiin in the second game. Kamal went ahead 3 games to 1 with a 12-10 and then a decisive 11-1 victory. However the spirited Salifou was not done with. Salifou fought hard to win the 5 and 6th games to level the match at 3 all. However it was Kamal who won the day 11 – 9 in the deciding set to put him through to the semi final against number 2 seed Jiang Tianyi of Hong Kong. Jiang has been as high as 19 in the World. Kamal currently ranked 76 in the World did not let that fase him as he took out the match 4 – 1 with the scoreline of 11-5,11-6,14-16,12-10,11-9.
So then on to the final against Li Ching who previously had been in the top 10 in the World. Again the giant killer showed no regard for history and reputations as he cruised to his first Pro Tour Title and a first for Indian Table Tennis.
