Young Indian paddler Archana Kamath pulled off a stunning victory over Portugal's world No 53 Jieni Shao to move into the women's singles pre-quarterfinals in the 2024 World Table Tennis Star Contender in Goa on Friday.
The 23-year-old from Bengaluru, who is currently ranked 134 in the world, had a slow start to the round-of-32 match as she lost the first game against the higher ranked and experienced opponent Shao.
However, Kamath made a remarkable comeback, winning the next two games before clinching the match by 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5) to progress into the next round of the tournament.
Star Indian paddler Manika Batra, who is ranked 38 in the world, looked in complete control of the match from the start as she won the contest by 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7) comfortably against South Korea's Suh Hyo Won.
Sreeja Akula also continued her brilliant form and showcased sublime shots on both sides of the table to shock the world No 30 Hana Goda of Egypt 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 14-12) in straight games to progress further in the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Indian pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah bowed out of the tournament after a 1-3 (7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11) defeat against Kao Cheng-jui and Chuang Chih-yuan of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals of the men's doubles category.
In the last eight of the women's doubles category, South Korea's Shin Yubin and Eon Jihee beat Sayali Wani and Taneesha Kotecha 3-0 (11-2, 12-10, 11-2) whereas the Indian pair of Diya Chitale and Akula also lost 0-3 (9-11, 8-11, 8-11) against Cheng I-ching and Li Yu-jhun of Chinese Taipei.
Shah and Chitale fought hard in their quarter-final of the mixed doubles category before going down 2-3 (5-11, 11-6, 14-12, 8-11, 6-11) to the Spanish pair of Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao.
