Sharath Kamal makes shock exit, Sreeja enters Round of 32 in Paris Olympics TT

Sharath Kamal Achanta of India in action against Deni Kozul of Slovenia during the Men Singles Round of 64 of the Table Tennis competitions in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, at The South Paris Arena in Paris, France, 28 July 2024. (EPA-EFE/CAROLINE BLUMBERG VIA PTI)

Indian table tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal made a shock exit from the Paris Olympics men's singles competition, losing 2-4 to lower-ranked Deni Kozul of Slovenia in a round of 64 match here on Sunday.

The 42-year-old Sharath Kamal, who was making his fifth Olympics appearance, lost 12-10 9-11 6-11 7-11 11-8 10-12 to his opponent ranked 86 places below him in the match that lasted 53 minutes.

The Commonwealth Games champion Indian, ranked 40th in the world, won a tight first game but lost the next three to trail 1-3. He recovered and made it 2-3 but again lost a tight fourth game to bow out of the competition. His opponent is ranked 126th in the world.

Earlier in the day, India’s top-ranked woman paddler Sreeja Akula entered the round of 32 with a clinical 4-0 win over Sweden’s Christina Kallberg.

Sreeja, who had created history by becoming the first Indian paddler to win a WTT Contender singles title, registered a 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 victory in 30 minutes over the Swede.

The Indian had little trouble bagging the first set but was stretched in the second, and her rival continued to do that in the next two sets as well.

In the third set, Sreeja and Kallberg went neck-to-neck till 7-5, but the Indian found her bearings just in time to pocket it.

Sreeja made the early running in the fourth set, taking a 9-3 lead, but a few unforced errors and a couple of good smashes helped Kallberg narrow the lead to 9-7 and then to 10-8.

But a powerful unanswered forehand to the right corner of the table propelled Sreeja to the next round.

Star paddler Manika Batra will face Anna Hursey of Great Britain in the women's singles later in the day.