Title in Oman before quarantine for Sharath

CHENNAI: Some 10 days ago. A Sharath Kamal wasn’t sure of going to Oman. The threat of COVID-19 meant he was unsure if the journey was going to be worth it. On Sunday, the 37-year-old proved to himself he had made the right decision.

Taking on former World No 7, Marcos Freitas, in the final of the ITTF Challenger Plus Oman Open, he emerged on top 6-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 3-11, 17-15. It was the Indian’s first title at an ITTF level event in a decade. He had last clinched a title at the Egypt Open in 2010.

Earlier on Sunday, he got past the challenge of Russia’s Kirill Skachkov in a thrilling last-four clash. The 2006 Commonwealth Games champion was down by a couple of games but fought back to win 11-13, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7 in an encounter that lasted more than an hour

Portuguese Freitas got through to the final after getting the better of India’s Harmeet Desai 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-3. At one stage, it looked like the World No 26 was going down but he showed his class when it really mattered.

Back to Sharath and it could be a crucial win for him just before the ITTF shuts shop for the foreseeable future because of the widespread threat of the virus. Having failed to qualify as a team in Portugal, the men were under pressure to gain valuable ranking points ahead of the Olympic qualifier.In fact, that’s one of the reasons why Sharath decided to go ahead and take part in the meet that had seen a spate of withdrawals. Oman is one of many countries to have confirmed cases but Sharath opted to play in. However, upon coming back to Chennai on Monday, he will, as decided earlier, self-quarantine.