WTT Star Contender: Indian problem ends in Doha

All eyes had been on ranked world No. 132 Archana Kamath, the lone Indian challenger remaining within the WTT Star Contender at Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar on Friday.
But the Bengaluru lady, 21, after profitable the primary recreation and placing up a courageous present within the second succumbed which she misplaced by mere two factors misplaced the following two and the quarterfinal match in opposition to World No. 15 Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong 11-9, 11-13, 8-11, 6-11.
In the sooner rounds, Archana’s victims included World No. 93 Tin-Tin Ho of England, World No. 39 Zhang Mo of Canada, and World No. 57 Miyu Nagasaki of Japan
Earlier within the combined doubles pre-quarterfinal match, Archana and Manav Thakkar misplaced to Wong Chung Ting and Doo Hoi Kem.
For her efforts, Archana who’s ranked No. 132 within the World will add 105 factors rating factors and is predicted to leapfrog and break into top-100 when ITTF, the world governing physique, releases the world rating quickly.
“I played with her a few years ago in the Indian Table Tennis League. She has improved a lot. She might be young but she’s very good. She beat Zhang Mo and Miyu Nagasaki before, so I did a lot of preparation before the match. I told myself to stay calm, and that if she played well, I shouldn’t be upset. I did my best to keep my emotions in check, focus on winning one point at a time, and take it as if she’s a much stronger opponent with a much higher ranking – then I would be able to play to the best of my ability. I’ve never played with Pesotska before. I’ll watch some videos of her matches and do my best,” Doo Hoi Kem informed worldtabletennis.com after the matccg
Archana’s compatriot Sreeja Akula, a former nationwide junior champion and ranked No. 143 on the planet, too had a very good outing. The Maharashtrian ousted forty fifth ranked Tatiana Kukulkova of Slovakia 11-5, 8-11, 11-3, September 11, 11-9 within the spherical of 64 and within the spherical of 32, Sreeja, 23, shocked World No. 21 Suh Hyowon of Korea 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7.
However, World No. 47 Bruna Takahashi of Brazil put a brake on the Indian’s win spree within the match for a spot within the last-8 stage profitable 11-7, 11-4, 12-10
G Sathiyan who bought a bye within the first spherical was blanked by Andrej Gacina 6-11, 6-11, 7-11 of Croatia on Thursday within the males’s singles spherical of 32.
In males’s doubles too, Sathiyan partnering his Chennai mate Anthony Amalraj misplaced tamely to Japanese duo Kazuhiro Yoshimura and Yuto Kizukuri 5-11, 11-9, 5-11, 6-11 within the opening spherical.
Other Indians Amalraj Anthony (a hundredth ranked in males’s singles), Reeth Tennison (World no. 533 in ladies’s singles), Harmeet and Manav (ranked 96th) and Manav and Archana (235th in combined doubles) had been pressured to play classification matches and couldn’t make the primary spherical.
WTT returned to Doha following its profitable debut earlier this 12 months with the WTT Middle East Hub in March. WTT Star Contender Doha is the third WTT occasion in Qatar which provided 600 ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking factors and a complete purse of $200,000.

RESULTS
Women’s singles: 132-Archana Kamath bt 93-Tin-Tin Ho of England 11-7, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8 in Rd 64; bt 39-Zhang Mo of Canada 11-8, 15-13, 11-7 in Rd 32; bt 57-Miyu Nagasaki of Japan 11-13, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 in Rd 16; misplaced to 15-Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong 11-9, 11-13, 8-11, 6-11 (in quarterfinals)
143-Sreeja Akula bt 45-Tatiana Kukulkova of Slovakia 11-5, 8-11, 11-3, September 11, 11-9 (rd 64); bt 21-Suh Hyowon of Korea 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7 (in Rd 32), misplaced to 47-Bruna Takahashi of Brazil 11-7, 11-4, 12-10 (in Rd 16)
Men’s singles: 39-G Sathiyan misplaced to 48-Andrej Gacina of Croatia 6-11, 6-11, 7-11
Mixed doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Wong Chung Ting-Doo Hoi Kem of HK bt Archana Kamath-Manav Thakkar 11-8, 11-7, 11-8
Women’s doubles: No entries
Men’s doubles: Kazuhiro Yoshmura-Yuto Kizukuri of Japan bt Amalraj Antony-Sathiyan 11-5, September 11, 11-5, 11-6; Tukiya UDa-Saunsuke Togami bt Harmeet Desai-Manav Thakkar 11-5, 11-7, 11-8.