achanta sharath kamal: CWG 2022: India’s Achanta Sharath Kamal clinches gold in Table Tennis men’s singles
The 40-year-old paddler, who won a bronze medal in the last edition in Gold Coast, had defeated home country’s Paul Drinkhall 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 to reach his second CWG finals.
Sharath went up first and scored a superb win in a 6-game marathon thriller, winning 4-2.
He started aggressively and surged to a 2-0 lead, winning the first two games 11-8, 11-8. He attacked the English paddler and did not give him a chance to get into a rhythm. But Drinkhall was too experienced and fed on the support of the partisan home crowd as he won the third game 11-8, making it 2-1. Sharath widened the margin once again by winning the fourth game 11-7. But Drinkhall was not done yet and won the closely fought fifth game 11-8 to make it 3-2.
However, Sharath could not be thwarted as he won the sixth game 11-8 to seal the victory and reach the final. He won a bronze medal in men’s singles in the 2018 edition and will definitely upgrade his medal.
(With inputs from agencies)
