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Indian table tennis icon Sharath Kamal is set to bid adieu to the game at the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025. The five-time Olympian will take part in the men's singles, having also secured a wild card for the men's doubles event, partnering Snehit Suravajjula.
Sharath Kamal will take on seasoned Kolkata paddler Anirban Ghosh in the first round of the men's singles at the WTT Star Contender Chennai on Thursday (March 27).
Sharath is currently the third-highest-ranked Indian on the ITTF ranking ladder. The Chennai-based player occupies the 92nd spot in the world rankings behind Manav Thakkar (WR #63) and Manush Shah (WR #73).
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Anirban Ghosh defeated Italy's Carlo Rossi in round 3 of the qualifiers to book a spot in the main draw of the WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025.
The 26-year-old, who turned out for the Chennai Lions in the past and for Puneri Paltans, more recently, in the Ultimate Table Tennis League, was unable to make it to the main draw in Doha or Muscat this season.
While Sharath has not been at his best recently, much is expected from the icon in his last tournament in front of a doting home crowd in Chennai, with the main draw commencing on Thursday.
At the Paris Olympics, the 42-year-old was knocked out quite unexpectedly in the first round of the men's singles, going down 12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12 to Deni Kozul of Slovenia.
In the team event in Paris, Sharath went down fighting 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 against Fan Zhendong with the Indians up against China in the round of 16.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games triple gold medalist also failed to progress beyond the opening round in the 2024 China Smash, losing to Aditya Sareen of Australia in four sets.
Sharath was edged out by Kao Cheng-Jui of Chinese Taipei, going down in a five-setter in the opening round of the Singapore Smash 2025. He also failed to progress beyond the first round in the WTT Star Contender in Doha earlier this year.
At the Asian Cup 2025 in February, Sharath beat Yemen's Ebrahim Gubra before losing to then-world No. 3 Liang Jingkun of China (now ranked No. 4).
World Noi. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan is the top seed in the men's singles event. Manav Thakkar, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai and Manush Shah are some of the Indian players to watch out for in Chehhai.
Sharath Kamal vs Anirban Ghosh Match Details
Match Details: Sharath Kamal vs Anirban Ghosh, Men's Singles, Round of 64, WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025
Date & Time: Thursday, March 27, 2025, 8:30 PM IST
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, India
Sharath Kamal vs Anirban Ghosh Prediction
Despite not being in the best of form, Sharath goes into his opening-round game of the WTT Chennai Star Contender as the overwhelming favourite. While the late-evening game promises to be a blockbuster, it remains to be seen how Anirban Ghosh copes with an emotional Chennai crowd.
Sharath Kamal vs Anirban Ghosh Live Streaming Details
The game between Sharath Kamal and Anirban Ghosh will be live-streamed on Sony LIV and the official World Table Tennis YouTube channel.
