WTT Star Contender: Paddler Sharath loses in pre-quarters

Paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal's impressive run at the WTT Star Contender Doha came to an end after he suffered a 9-11, 8-11, 6-11 defeat at the hands of world No. 12 Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany in a men's singles pre-quarterfinals match on Wednesday.

World No. 32 Kamal, who surprised world No. 16 Germany's Patrick Franziska in the last round, started the game well and gave a tough fight to his relatively higher-ranked German opponent as the first two games of the match went neck-and-neck before the 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist Ovtcharov turning the momentum in his favour. The German further capitalised on the 2-0 lead and wrapped up the match to enter the quarter-final stage.

With Sharath's defeat, Indian participation at the tournament came to an end. Earlier, Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and Manika Batra made second round exits in the singles competition.

--IANS

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