Soumyajit finds place in Kuwait Open main draw

Indian youngster Soumyajit Ghosh has cleared the qualification round of the Kuwait Open and joined compatriot, Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal in the main draw of the pro tour table tennis Championships in Kuwait City.

Ghosh went down 3-4 to Ahmed Nadim of Egypt in the first match of the qualifying round, but later regained his touch and overcame Jakub Kosowski 4-1 in the second encounter to make the main draw on Wednesday.

The Bengal boy now takes on Alexei Smirnov of Russia in the first match of the main round.

World No 73, Sharath has already got direct entry to the main draw and plays Antonin Gavlas of Czech Republic in the round of 64 later on Thursday.

Sharath will also pair with former national champion Subhajit Saha in the men's doubles, where they meet Chinese combo of Ma Long and Zhang Jike.

New woman India No 1 Poulomi Gahatak and her doubles partner, former national champion Mouma Das will be the only Indian pair in the women's doubles category.

Poulomi-Mouma take on Korean pair of Kim Kyung and Mi Young in the first round of women's doubles.