Watch | Singapore Smash 2024: Sharath Kamal causes another upset, reaches quarterfinal

India's 41-year-old Sharath Kamal made history by becoming the first Indian male player to reach the quarterfinals of the table tennis world championship after beating Omar Assar of Egypt on Thursday in Singapore Smash.

The Indian player continued his giant-killing run in the Singapore Smash table tennis tournament with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 12-10) win over Omar Assar in the men’s singles round of 16 match.

Sharath, who is ranked 88th in the world, attacked from the beginning, giving no chance to Omar to settle down. His trademark forehand top-spins and backhand whiplash from the back of the table were in full flow in all three games.

Omar, World No. 22, was circumspect to start with and was content playing counter-attack and block. On the other hand, Sharath Kamal, the reigning Commonwealth Games singles champion, was on the offensive from the beginning.

In the previous two editions of Singapore Smash, Sharath had bowed out in the first round. Sharath is the lowest-ranked men’s singles paddler left in the men’s singles event. Sharath will next meet the winner of France’s Felix Lebrun and Kristian Karlsson of Sweden.

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