G. Sathiyan stayed in contention to qualify for the knock-outs (quarterfinals), while Sharath Kamal crashed out of the Asian Cup table tennis championships here on Friday.
Sathiyan, seeded 10th, lost to Japan’s Koki Niwa of Japan 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 before upsetting Yun-Ju’s eighth-seeded compatriot Chih-Yuan Chuang 11-5, 11-4, 11-8.
However, in his last group match, the 26-year-old Indian lost to Sangsu Lee of Korea 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5 and finished third in Group-C.
In the knock-out round on Saturday, Sathiyan will take on Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan. If Sathiyan wins, he will reach the quarterfinals and thereby get a ticket for the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Sharath, seeded 11th, lost all his three matches in Group-B to finish fourth and last in the group. The 36-year-old lost to China’s Ma Long 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, Lin Yun-Ju of Taipei 10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 and Japan’s Harimoto Tomokazu 11-6, 14-12, 9-11, 5-11, 11-7.
In the women’s section, Manika Batra, who lost two and won a lone match, ended up third in Group-D and exited from the event.
