Tokyo Olympics: Sharath Kamal makes it to Round 3 of men's singles table tennis event

Sharath Kamal beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia 4-2 to make it through to the third round of the men’s singles table tennis event at the Tokyo Olympics. The Portuguese player took the Indian veteran to the limit in their Round 2 match on Monday (July 26). However, Sharath was able to gut out a good performance and book his spot in the next round.

The match started in a manner far from ideal for the Indian. He lost the first game in comprehensive fashion, picking up just the 2 points.

But he roared back strong, taking the second game 11-7 after some good back-and-forth action between the two players.

He turned the match around on its head in the third game as he won it 11-5, thus giving him a 2-1 lead. But Apolonia bounced back strongly in the fourth game.

Knowing he needed to win to keep his hopes alive, he went on the attack. His strategy worked too, as he won the hotly contested fourth game 11-6.

However, that was where the good news ended for him. Sharath rebounded to win the next game 11-9 and take a 3-2 lead in the best of 7 match.

He won the sixth game 11-6, thus booking his spot in the next round quite comfortably.

Apolonia had a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Sharath coming into the game. What’s more, the Indian had won the first of those matches while losing the next 2 on the trot.

However, the form book went out of the window in this match. Sharath put on a clinical performance, especially given his start was far from ideal.

What’s next for Sharath Kamal?

The Indian’s next opponent is a heavyweight – China’s Ma Long. For the uninitiated, Long is the current defending world and Olympics table tennis champion.

Long is ranked third in the world right now and once had a 64-month run atop the rankings. He’s also won gold at the world championships a whopping 12 times, as well as 9 golds in the World Cup and 3 Olympic gold medals.

To put it politely, Sharath has his work cut out for him.