Birmingham [UK], August 6 (ANI): The world no. 40 ranked pair, Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, took charge of their men’s doubles quarter-final and registered a stunning win 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 to advance into the semi-final at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 on Friday.
The English duo of Sam Walker and Tom Jarvis on the other side won 15 points lesser than the Indian duo in the match. Sharath and Sathiyan will feature in the semi-final on August 6.
Paddlers Harmeet Singh and Sanil Shetty, however, had to face a defeat in the quarter-finals against Zhe Yu Clarence and Shao Feng Ethan in the men’s doubles.
Sathiyan also won his tie 4-2 in the men’s singles Round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals. It was another competitive clash where Sathiyan wins 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6.
In the men’s singles, Sanil Shetty was too good for Nigeria’s Bode Abiodun, beating his opponent 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13, 11-8. It was another entertaining contest but Shetty looked in control throughout.
On the other hand, the world no. 7 men’s doubles pair of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won 21-8, 21-7 against Murad Ali and Muhammad Irfan Bhatti of Pakistan in the round of 16, ensuring their place in the quarter-final.
Star Indian paddler Manika Batra had to face defeat 12-10, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 in the women’s singles quarter-final by Jian Zeng of Singapore.
The defeat ended her women’s singles campaign at Birmingham 2022. However, she will be in action in the women’s doubles round of 16 on August 6.
Meanwhile, Sreeja Akula registered a victory in a thrilling encounter against Mo Zhang in the women’s singles quarter-final. Akula won 9-11, 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 to make the semi-final at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
She will next lock horns with Tianwei Feng of Singapore on August 6. (ANI)