Sharath Kamal wins US Open Table Tennis title

The world number 76 Indian overcame some tough resistance before overcoming Thomas 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 in the long-drawn summit-clash to become richer by USD 10,000 and the success would surely boost his confidence when he defends the men's singles title in Commonwealth Games.

"I am really going along nicely at the moment and happy to beat the Slovakian in the US Open. It was a tough final," said Sharath on his return.|

"I am particularly happy to have come back after losing the second and third sets. Once I took the two subsequent sets, I became confident. Yet the Slovak was too good and kept himself in the game," he added.

Among other Indians in fray, Sanil Shetty, Utkarsh Gupta and K Spoothy won their first titles in Under-21, boys' singles and girls' singles category respectively.

"I did not play well in Delhi (in Indian Open). Maybe, it was the pressure to perform in front of the home crowd. But in the US Open, I kept attacking and it paid dividends against Japanese Hannamura Nayoo.

"After the winning first set, which went to 16-14, I was confident. Yet Nayoo proved a hard nut to crack as he took two sets before I subdued him," said Shetty.

Secretary-General of the Table Tennis federation of India Dhanraj Choudhary hoped that the wins would augur well for the Indians in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in October.

"We are trying to give maximum exposure to the teams so that they, particularly, Sharath can defend his (CWG singles) title in October," said Choudhary.The Indian paddlers now head to Cairo for the Egypt Open to be held from July 7-11