DOHA, May 11: Achanta Sharath Kamal, keeping his slate clean, defeated Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenkno 4-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7) to top group 7 and enter the round of 32 at the World Olympic Qualification Championships here this evening. And joining him in the main draw was Anthony Amalraj who, despite losing to Wu Chi Chi 2-4 (5-11, 18-16, 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 11-8), finished behind the Chinese Taipei paddler, who won all his matches in group 2.

Earlier, Poulomi Ghatak, who caused an upset when she beat Russia’s Oxana Fadeeva, the No. 5 seed here on Thursday, lost 3-4 (12-10, 10-12, 8-11, 6-11, 15-13, 11-7, 11-7) to world No. 121 Elena Timina of the Netherlands in one of the toughest battles witnessed in women’s fare here. Yet, it was the Indian who made it to the main draw, finishing second behind Fadeeva in her group.

Unfortunately, for the paddler from Holland it was the end of the road, particularly after the way she came back trailing 1-3 against the Indian to win the last three games to beat her opponent. With just two players qualifying for the second stage, it was curtains for Timina.

Though the Holland girl took the first game, she failed to come to terms against the clever Poulomi who mixed her top spins with some attacking gameplan to run into a comfortable 3-1 lead. Even in the fifth game, Poulomi had her chances to seal the fate of her opponent, but Timina returned well to win crucial points in the game. That must have given the much-needed confidence at that stage as she went on to win the next three games and the match.

Poulomi’s loss to Timina also meant that the Indian did not get a bye in the main draw. She will have to beat Chia-Hui Lin of Taipei in the round of 32 in a late match tonight. But the Indian sounded confident when she said: “I made some crucial errors in my last group match and I have learnt from those mistakes. I am determined not to repeat them.”