Achanta Sharath Kamal entered the men’s table tennis singles semifinals here on Friday beating England’s Paul Drinkhall 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6 in 43 minutes.
The third-seeded Indian went on the attack right from the start and was rewarded when the Englishman fell into his trap and committed several unforced errors.
Sharath ran away with the first two sets before a late rally by Drinkhall saw the third being extended into extra points. Sharath was again in the lead in the fourth, but Drinkhall found his way back to win this one.
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But, that was the only respite Drinkhall enjoyed as Sharath quickly wrapped up the fifth set to set up a match against Jian Zhan (Singapore) in the semifinals. Tenth-seeded Soumyajit Ghosh, who had upset sixth-seeded Li Hu (Singapore) in the pre-quarterfinals, however, made his exit losing to Liam Pitchford (England) 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-9 in another quarterfinal outing.
Harmeet Rajul Desai put up a good fight before losing 14-12, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11 to Jian Zhan in the pre-quarterfinals. Earlier, Desai had beaten David Powell (Australia) 11-4, 7-11, 11-13, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 in 53 minutes.
In men’s doubles, Sharath and Anthony Amalraj prevailed over the Singaporean pair of Zi Yang and Jian Zhan quite convincingly at 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 and will meet another Singaporean pair of Goa Ning and Li Hu in the gold medal match.
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In the women’s section, the Indian challenge came to an end with K. Shamini and Madhurika Patkar losing to the English pair of Joanna Drinkhall and Kelly Sibley in the quarterfinals. The English pair won 12-1, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10 in just a little over 30 minutes.
Shamini and Madhurika had earlier defeated Zhenhua Dederko and Ziyu Zhang (Australia) 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9. The other Indian pair of Ankita Das and Pouloumi Das failed to make progress, losing to Beh Lee Wei and Khim Sock (Malaysia) 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 in the last 16.
The results: Men: Singles: Quarterfinals: Achanta Sharath Kamal bt Paul Drinkhall (Eng) 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6; Liam Pitchford (Eng) bt Soumyajit Ghosh 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-9.
Pre-quarterfinals: Soumyajit bt Li Hu (Sin) 11-5, 2-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9; Sharath Kamal bt Segun Toriolo (Nig) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4; Jian Zhan (Sin) bt Harmeet Rajul Desai 14-12, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11.
Round of 32: Sharath Kamal bt Ashley Robinson (NIR) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5; Harmeet bt David Powell (Aus) 11-4, 7-11, 11-13, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5.
Doubles: Semifinals: Sharath & Anthony Amalraj bt Zi Yang & Jian Zhan (Sin) 11-7, 12-10, 11-3.
Women: Doubles: Quarterfinals: Joanna Drinkhall & Kelly Sibley (Eng) bt K. Shamini & Madhurika Patkar 12-1, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10.
Pre-quarterfinals: Shamini & Madhurika bt Zhenhua Dederko & Ziyu Zhang (Aus) 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9; Beh Lee Wei & Khim Sock (Mas) bt Ankita Das & Pouloumi Das 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4.