Sharath takes a game off Ma Long before bowing out
(Sourced from PTI)
Indian paddler Sharath Kamal took a game off the legendary Ma Long, the reigning Olympic and world champion, before making a third-round exit from the table tennis competition at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday. Kamal fought tooth and nail to take the second game from Long but eventually lost 7-11 11-8 11-13 4-11 4-11 in 46 minutes.
With the defeat, India's challenge has ended in table tennis at the Games. Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and G Stahiyan have all exited the singles competition. After losing a close first game, Kamal took a 7-3 lead in the second with some perfectly placed forehands, and he was also helped by some errors by Long.
The Chinese legend reduced the margin by taking five straight points, inducing backhand errors from the Indian. A crushing forehand winner after a short rally gave Kamal a chance to close the second game in his favor and he sealed that with a slap shot.
Kamal responded extremely well to the balls hit close to his body to lead 4-2 in the third game but Long took four consecutive points to snatch the lead. A backhand error from Kamal at 8-8 gave Long the advantage but Kamal did not let him close it out easily. Long took a time out and sealed the third game for a 2-1 lead.
A flurry of errors from Kamal and some better hitting from Long put the Indian behind 0-6, a lead from where a comeback was not easy against a player of Long's caliber. From an intense contest, it suddenly became a drab one-sided affair with Kamal struggling to keep pace with Long.
