Tokyo: Veteran Indian table tennis player A Sharath Kamal overcame a sluggish start to beat Portugal’s Tiago Polonia in the men’s singles second round but Sutirtha Mukherjee was overwhelmed by Potugal’s Yu Fu in the Olympics, here on Monday.
The 39-year-old Sharath struggled in the first game but pulled himself up just in time to win 2-11 11-8 11-5 9-11 11-6 11-9 in 49 minutes to set up a clash with defending champion Ma Long from China.
Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Long has won every singles title in the sport, and is the reigning world champion as well. Mukherjee was no challenge to 42-year-old Yu Fu as the China-born bested her in straight sets in the women’s singles second round.
—PTI