Sharath Kamal in tough Group B in Asian Cup TT

Jaipur: Top Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal has been placed in a tough group along with world number three Fan Zhendong of China in the men's singles draw of the 28th Asian Cup Table Tennis tournament which begins at the Sawai Man Singh Indoor Stadium here on Friday.

World number 49 Sharath Kamal is the lowest ranked player in Group B which also has world number eight Chuang Chin Yuan of Chinese Taipei and Joo Saehyuk of Korea, according to the draws held at a city hotel here.

World number two Xu Xin of China has been placed in Group A with Niwa Koki of Japan (world number 12), Kim Minseok of Korea (ranked 32) and Jiyang Tianyi of Hong Kong (ranked 36) to make it a comparatively easier group.

The other Indian hope Soumyajit Ghosh (110) has been placed alongside world number five Japanese Mitzutani Jun, Tang Peng of Hong Kong (ranked 13) and Gao Ning of Singapore (ranked 15). Group D has India's G Sathiyan along with Ali Omar Yemen, Yang Zi of Singapore and Alamiyan Naushad of Iran.

In the women's section, Indian Poloumi Ghatak found herself in Group C with world number five Japanese Ishikawa Kasumi, Korean Seo Hyowon (ranked 10) and Yu Mengyu of Singapore who is currently ranked 12th.

The other Indian girl in the fray, Mouma Das will face stiff challenge from Shashavari Neda of Iran, Mohamed Ala from Quatar and Komwong Nathana from Thailand.

The highest ranked women in the tournament, world number three Liu Shiwen of China has been placed in Group A with Fukuhara Ai of Japan (ranked 5), Yang Haeun of Korea (ranked 19) and Do Hoi of Hong Kong (ranked 33).