Sharath storms into final at Oman Open

Ace Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory against Russia's Kirill Skachkov to enter the men's singles final at the ITTF Challenger Plus Oman Open here on Sunday.

Fourth-seeded Sharath made a sensational comeback after being two games down to register 11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7 win in a thrilling seven-set semi-final that lasted for one hour and eight minutes.

The 37-year-old Indian veteran will now take on top-seeded Marcos Freitas of Portugal in the summit clash.

"Playing well here will help in getting better rankings and seedings especially keeping the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in mind," he said.

"This time we had a lot of Indians participating here as all of us are looking for berth in Tokyo. My performance here will be significant for me personally as well as I am bracing up for the Olympics and hope I can make it count."