Singapore Smash: Sharath Kamal storms past Omar to reach quarterfinals

The Indian Table Tennis legend, Achanta Sharath Kamal stormed past world no. 22, Omar Assar of Egypt to reach his maiden quarterfinals at the Singapore Smash on Thursday.

Kamal took a comfortable straight-game (11-4, 11-8, 12-10) victory against Omar at the Infinity Arena. He had entered the main draw after winning three games in the qualifier round and had three more wins, thus securing the most wins in the tournament in the men's singles category.

Omar was completely clueless about finding the answer to Sharath's backhand blocks and made many errors in the first game in search of something special but dropped it comfortably.

Sharath continued his traditional serve using his wrist to trouble Omar in the second game. He was looking very comfortable to take victory after gaining a 2-game lead but in the end, Omar came aggressively.

Omar used his quick forehand smashes to gain a very big lead of 8-4 at the second towel break. After the break, Sharath showed better composure to Omar's attack as advised by Danish youngster, Anders Lind from the coaching bench.

Omar lost his control and made a few errors which brought the score back to level terms at 8-8, and then Kamal took the game 12-10 post-deuce. This victory was very special for Indian table tennis as he was the first Indian to reach the final 8 in singles of this tournament.

Sharath Kamal, ranked 88th in the world, is the lowest-ranked player in the top 8 of this prestigious event, which features all the world-class paddlers from across the globe. This win ensured Sharath a pack of 300+ ranking points, which meant he would be back in the top 40 world rankings after a long gap.

Sharath will now face another top-class player, world no. 6, Felix Lebrun of France, in the quarterfinals tomorrow.