The Stage 2 of the Asia Qualifiers offers a total of 12
qualifiers each—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 winners of each group making the Olympics cut.
Drawn in group B and given a first-round bye, Achanta
Sharath Kamal took on Ali Alkhadrawi of Saudi Arabia in the semifinals. The
top-ranked Indian in the world made a short work of his Saudi 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 tomorrow. This match in
group B will decide the seventh qualifier.
The Iranian, who scored a hard-fought first round win (4-3)
over Libya’s Dauud Cheaib, defeated Indonesia’s Ficky Santoso 4-2 (11-7, 11-8,
9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3) in the second round.
Though Sharath and Noshad have not met each other in recent
times they have played against one another five times before between 2010 and
2014 with the Indian having a 4-1 win-loss record over the Iranian.
Tough for Mouma
Mouma, drawn in group A, had an easy passage into the final
round where she will meet North Korean Ri Myong Sun tomorrow. 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 beaten her once in the Asian Championships in 2011.
But Mouma need not despair because she will still get a
chance in the Qualifiers 11-12 and Reserve spots of 1-2, which will be played
on progressive knockout.
TTFI Press release
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