CHENNAI: India’s Sharath Kamal qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after scoring a comprehensive win over Pakistan’s Rameez Muhammad, ranked 690 in the world, at the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Doha on Thursday. It was a must win game for Sharath, currently 32 in the world, who had lost to Sathiyan in the first match of the day.
Sharath had little trouble thrashing Rameez 11-4, 11-1, 11-5, 11-4 in just 23 minutes. Sharath made the cut based on his superior rankings. The qualification of Sathiyan too is a mere formality as he takes on Rameez late on Thursday.
This will be Sharath’s fourth Olympics appearance. He had earlier been part of the Athens Games in 2004, Beijing four years later and Rio in 2016. “This feels special and I am feeling at my fittest best at 38,” Sharath told TOI just moments after his win over Rameez.
The seasoned campaigner Sharath felt the younger lot such as Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai helped him to push at this age. “They work hard and motivate me to give my best as well,” he added.
The keenly-awaited clash between Sharath and Sathiyan saw the latter reign supreme. Sathiyan won the closely fought contest 11-9, 15-13, 5-11, 7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8. Sathiyan quickly raced to a two-game lead before the seasoned Sharath pulled things back. Sharath won the next three games to take a 3-2 lead. However, Sathiyan hit back to clinch the sixth and seventh game to win the match.
Players in the Asian qualification meet have been divided into five groups based on their geographical regions. The toppers of each group — South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia — qualify for the Games. Western Asian players aren’t competing since they have qualified for the Olympics. Five group toppers automatically make the cut for the Olympics. The sixth place available will be for the highest ranked player in the remaining lot.