Tokyo:India's paddler Sharath Kamal on Monday defeated Tiago Apolonia of Portugal 4-2 in Round 2 of men's singles here at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kamal had an unforgettable start in the first match as he was defeated 2-11. The power shots, accompanied by some brilliant smashes and backhand slides, was on full display by his opponent.
However, the next two matches saw a remarkable comeback from him as he defeated his Portuguese opponent 11-8, 11-5 in 49 minutes
The fourth match got intense and both players were equally good, but Sharath ended on losing side with scoreline reading 9-11.
The 32-ranked player in the world, Sharath, won the fifth match convicingly 11-6, but the last match was played on equal terms. Sharath was in no mood to take it to the seventh as he wrapped it up in sixth match itself thrashing his opponent 11-9.
Top-ranked Indian Manika Batra faces Austria's Sofia Polcanova in her round three fixture later in the day.
G Sathiyan has exited the competition after losing his men's singles second round.