India’s 29 year old Sharath Kamal Achanta, sponsored by Killerspin, was the shock winner of the Men’s Singles title at ITTF Pro Tour tournament which concluded on Sunday 11th July 2010 in the Egyptian city of Cairo.
Seeded no.6, he beat Ilia Barbolin of Belarus in the opening round, followed by success against Russia’s Mikhail Gladyshev to book his place in the quarter-finals where he accounted for the in form Frenchman, Abdel-Kader Salifou. One round earlier, Salifou had ousted no.3 seed and former world no.1, Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive.
Odds Against Achanta
A place in the semi-finals booked, the odds were stacked against Sharath Kamal Achanta.
In the semi-finals he faced Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi, a player he had confronted on two previous occasions and had suffered quite crushing defeats; in March 2008 he had been beaten in four straight games by the Hong Kong left hander at the Asian Cup and the following month at the Chile Open he had suffered a five games reverse.
Out of nine games, he had won one!
However, in Cairo it was very different and the result underlined the progress currently being made; he totally reversed the Chile decision and recorded a five games win against the no.2 seed.
One Hong Kong player defeated, he faced a second in the final, Li Ching, a right handed penholder, outstanding near the net and known for his outstanding speed.
Again, Sharath Kamal Achanta was the underdog, he was not the favourite.
Previous Defeats
He had played Li Ching in world ranking events on two previous occasions, both times he had lost. He suffered a three games to one reverse at the Asian Cup in December 2005 and in February 2009, a straight games second round defeat.
In Cairo, he laid history to rest; he beat Li Ching in straight games to be crowned the 2010 Egyptian Open Men’s Singles champion and thus added to the title won one week earlier when emerging victorious at the United States Open in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Two weeks of international table tennis, two titles, quite incredible, golden days for Sharath Kamal Achanta.
The Golden Road
Round One: bt Ilia Barbolin (BLR) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
Round Two: bt Mikhail Gladyshev (RUS) 11-7, 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9
Quarter-Final: bt Abdel-Kader Salifou (IND) 11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 11-1, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9
Semi-Final: bt Jiang Tianyi (HKG) 11-6, 11-6, 14-16, 12-010, 11-9
Final: bt Li Ching (HKG) 11-7, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4
