Sharath Kamal off to a good start at World Cup Table Tennis 2013

Sharath Kamal is in elite company at the World Cup in Belgium. His competitors include the likes of Xu Xin, Timo Boll, Ovtcharov, Samsonov, among a host of others.

In a Stage 1 match, Sharath snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Australian legend William Henzell 12-14, 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3, 12-10. Henzell was the youngest inductee into Australia's Hall of Fame at age 26, at that time, 20 years younger than any other inductee.

Sharath now plays Hong Kong's Tang Peng in a crucial match that will most likely decides who advances to the Stage 2, that has the World's top players waiting. It is worth noting that Sharath Kamal is the first Indian to qualify for this elite championships whose past winners include Waldner, Persson, Kong Linghui, Liu Guoliang, Vladimir Samsonov, Ma Lin, Wang Hao (王皓), Timo Boll and Zhang Jike.

Editor
www.TableTennisBug.com

Henzell and Miao Miao crowned Oceania Cup champions

(Photos courtesy of the ITTF)

William Henzell and Miao Miao beat David Powell and Li Chunli respectively to win the Oceania Cup at Bendigo Australia. This was Henzell's third consecutive victory.

While Henzell beat Powell fairly easily, Miao Miao had to battle back from 1-3 down against the experienced Chunli. The win for Miao Miao also meant that she earned a ticket to the Women's World Cup to be held at Kobe, Japan in September. Similarly, Henzell gets to compete at the Men's World Cup at Verviers, Belgium in October.

Results:

Men's singles finals:

William Henzell bt David Powell 15-13, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 11-1

Women's singles finals:

Miao Miao bt Li Chunli  5-11, 11-13, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11 11-9