Sharath Kamal Achanta moved into the semi-finals of the ITTF Indian Open Pro Tour

Sharath Kamal Achanta moved into the semi-finals of the ITTF Indian Open Pro Tour with a 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10 victory over Young Sik Jung of Korea on Day 4 at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Saturday. The top ranked Indian player in the circuit will now take on World No. 15 Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany in the semi-final at 12.00 pm IST on Sunday.

Sharath Kamal had earlier beaten Patrick Baum of Germany in a close contest (13-11, 11-13, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9) to advance into the quarter-finals. Ning Gao of Singapore defeated Belgian Jean-Michel Saive to set up the other semi-final clash with Hyun Deok Seo of Korea who beat Sang Su Lee, also of Korea.
Sharath Kamal, however, couldn’t replicate his success in the men’s doubles event as he and Subhajit Saha went down tamely to Sang Su Lee and Hyun Deok Seo of Korea 7-11, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-13, thus ending India’s campaign in all other events. The Indian pair had reached the semis after defeating compatriots Harmeet Desai and Devesh Karia.
The Korean duo will now play Ning Gao and Zi Yang of Singapore, who beat Huang Sheng-Sheng and Wu Chih-Chi of Chinese Taipei in the final of the men’s doubles. In the women’s doubles, I-Ching Cheng and Yi-Hua Huang of Korea will face Li Jiao and Li Jie of the Netherlands in the final on Sunday.
Kenji Matsudaira of Japan defeated Chen Chien An of Taipei to win the U 21 Boys Singles title. The Japanese won 11-4, 14-16, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7. Yu Mengyu of Singapore triumphed by beating Kasumi Ishikawa to lift the U 21 girls’ singles title.