Sharath Kamal wins Oman Open 2020 title

The veteran Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal broke the 10-year-old drought by winning the Oman Open title defeating top-seeded Portugal player Marcos Fretias in gruelling five-setter played at Muscat on Sunday.

Achanta Kamal did not have a great start thanks to brilliance by Fretias where he executed the backhand push perfectly. The Indian fought back strongly to win the next three games where he found his tempo and with a little bit of fortune and class at the same time. The second game saw the Indian show his domination winning it 11-8.

The third game was a close-fought affair as both players fought for each point before the veteran Indian held his nerves to win it 12-10 to make 2-1 in favour of Kamal. The fourth game also saw Indian dominating and winning it at 11-9.

In the fifth game, Fretias played aggressive table tennis and roared back into the game-winning it easily at 11-3 to force the match into the decider. In the final game, Portuguese had an early 8-6 lead with his great shots. The Indian fought back strongly to level the scores at 10-10. Both players fought for each point but ultimately Achanta held his nerves winning the title by 17-15. With the threat of Covid virus, the Indian paddlers visited Muscat to take part in the tournament.

Achanta Sharath Kamal was the Egypt Open in 2010. Since then the veteran Indian made two semi-finals appearances at Morocco Open in 2011 and India Open in 2017. World number 86 Harmeet Desai also had a great tournament reaching the semi-finals.

Kamal had defeated Kiril Skachkov in a thrilling semi-finals encounter as he had to come back from losing the first two games. The Indian won the match by 11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7 to enter the finals.

Desai lost to Fretias in the semi-finals to end up with a bronze medal. The International Table Tennis Federation has postponed all the events due to Covid-19.