JOIN USAce paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal led from the front as India defeated Iran 3-1 to finish seventh in the team event of the Asian Championships here on Wednesday.
In the 7th-8th position playoff, Sharath Kamal (68) pipped 44th-ranked Iranian Noshad Alamiyan in a keenly contested match to help India finish seventh in the Champion Division.
Sharath won the encounter 11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 2-11, 11-7.
Earlier, the 30-year-old got India off to a perfect start as he brushed aside Nima Alamian’s (282) challenge 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 in the first encounter at the Gijang Gymnasium.
But Soumyajit Ghosh (170) failed to overcome the defenses of Alamiyan and went down 7-11, 6-11, 9-11. Anthony Amalraj (158) made heavy weather of his match against Mohammadreza Akhlaghpasand (301) but managed to have the last laugh in a five-game encounter as he won 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles category, the pair of Ghosh and Mouma Das, who had beaten Mongolian pair of Lkhagvasuren Enkhbat and Byamba Erdenesuvd 3-0, lost in the pre-quarters to Gao Ning and Yu Mengyu of Singapore 10-12, 2-11, 7-11.
Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team finished eighth after going down to Malaysia 1-3. It was a tough outing for the women paddlers against seasoned Malaysians on Tuesday. The Indian team comprising Mouma, Shamini Kumaresan, Neha Aggarwal, did not have an easy start.
After Mouma lost to NG Sock Khim 4-11, 10-12, 4-11, Shamini could not match the guile of Beh Lee Wei who accounted for the national champion 11-7, 11-6, 11-5. But Neha gave a semblance of hope when she defeated Ting Hie Phim in straight games of 11-5, 11-6, 11-9. It was left to Shamini to up the ante but it was not to be.