Table Tennis: Sharath, Mouma step away from Rio berths

Paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das reached the final rounds in Stage 2 of the Asia Olympic qualification tournament in Hong Kong on Friday, inching closer to making the cut for the Rio Games.

The Stage 2 of the Asia qualifiers offers a total of 12 qualifiers — five from region tournaments and seven from the main event.

With five regions throwing up five qualifiers in each section, which included Indians Soumyajit Ghosh and Manika Batra, the remaining players were divided into four groups in each category to compete among themselves — the winner of each group making the Olympics cut.

Drawn in Group B and given a first-round bye, Sharath Kamal took on Ali Alkhadrawi of Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals.

The experienced Indian made short work of his opponent to beat him 4-3 (9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-14, 11-9) to move into the last round where he will take on Noshad Alamiyan from Iran on Saturday. This match in Group B will decide the seventh qualifier.

Mouma, drawn in Group A, had an easy passage into the final round where she will meet North Korean Ri Myong Sun on Saturday.

The Indian had received byes in the first two rounds while Ri, who had a first-round bye, defeated Sewer Abuyaman of Jordan in straight games in Round Two.

In a head-to-head match-up, the North Korean has an upper hand over the Indian, having won in the Asian Championships.