Winner of the Men's Singles title at the Indian National Championships in Guwahati, in the north east of the country, Sharath Kamal Achanta completed a hectic schedule of competition and travel to book his place in the main draw of the Men's Singles event at the Qatar Open in Doha, by finishing in first place in his group qualification stage matches on Thursday 18th February 2010.

At the final hurdle in Guwahati he beat Sourav Chakrobarty to clinch the top prize; whilst in Doha he overcame European opposition in the guise of Russia's Viacheslav Burov and Aleksandr Kuchuk of Belarus to book his place in the second stage of proceedings.

Special Dispensation

Sharath Kamal Achanta was one of five Indian players afforded special dispensation by the International Table Tennis Federation to complete their full schedule of group matches on the second day of action; play in the Indian National Championships concluding on Tuesday 16th February 2010.

However, Sharath Kamal Achanta was the only one of the quintet to finish with an unblemished record on the second day of action.

Tough Time

Sourav Chakraborty suffered defeat at the hands of both Sweden's Par Gerell and Romania's Ovidiu Ionescu whilst a similar fate befell Soumyadeep Roy. He was beaten by Slovakia's Thomas Keinath and Russia's Alexander Steshenko.

Equally, for the ladies it was a tough time in Doha.

Poulomi Ghatak beat Russia's Olga Baranova but suffered against Chinese Taipei's Cheng I-Ching whilst Shamini Kumaresan was beaten by both Korea's Moon Hyun Jung and Germany's Petrissa Solja.

Courageous Performance

It was 27 year old Sharath Kamal Achanta who flew the flag high for India delivering a performance which showed mental strength and courage.

Against Viacheslav Burov, recording victory my the minimum two point margin in the seventh game; his controlled topspin strokes to the backhand of his adversary being a potent weapon.

At 9-all in the seventh game it was parity with the Russian to serve, the odds slightly favoured Viacheslav Burov; however, Sharath Kamal Achanta responded.