New Delhi: A. Sharath Kamal, the last Indian in fray, bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals to end India’s campaign at the ongoing Seamaster 2017 Asian Championships at Wuxi today.
The Indian lost to Lam Siu Hang of Hong Kong 2-3 (6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12, 10-12) after waging a spirited fight.
Though Sharath began on a bad note losing rather quickly his first game, the Indian made amends and came back strongly against the Hong Kong paddler, who exacted revenge in a similar fashion winning the third game with minimal points to go 2-1 up.
A more determined Sharath was attacking well on his backhand and almost cornered his opponent by saving two match matches to level the score 2-1. Rattled as he was the Hong Kong paddler kept a slender lead in the decider and in spite of Sharath managing to deuce at 10-10, Lam took the next two crucial points, one each on his own serve and once breaking Sharath’s to enter the quarterfinals.