The Hindu : Anushree too hot for Arul Selvi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2003

Sport

Sport - Table Tennis

Anushree too hot for Arul Selvi

By Nandakumar Marar

Anushree Saha of Bengal in action against N. Arul Selvi of Tamil Nadu in the first round of the Senior National table tennis championships held at Balewadi near Pune on Monday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

PUNE JAN. 13. Arul Selvi felt the whiplash of youthful irreverence in the form of schoolgirl Anushree Saha. The experienced Tamil Nadu player, with more than a decade of national level experience under her belt, found herself at the receiving end of a furious counter-attack by the 15-year-old from Bengal in the 64th Senior National Table Tennis Championships on Monday. Leading by three games and 5-0 in the fourth of a best of seven women's singles first round tie, the former went on to lose from there.

Anushree's 9-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 victory vaults her into the second round of the women's main draw where seasoned international M.S. Mythili, seeded eighth, awaits her. A huge mountain for the Bengal youngster to climb, but the confidence of surviving three qualifying matches and one amazing comeback should fuel the 15-year-old's ambitions in her first National appearance against the big names.

The Bengal camp has reason to be proud of this bundle of energy. Internationals Mouma Das and Poulomi Ghatak (former statemates now with Petroleum Sports Promotion Board) were at hand to cheer the 15-year-old, sitting within hearing distance and steadying the youngster's climb up from the bottom, step by step.

"Mouma and Poulomi's presence gave me a lot of enthu," gushed the Bengal girl, a 10th New Memorial High School student. "After losing the first three games, I didn't know what to do when their encouraging words showed me the way."

Anushree is not an unknown in Bengal table tennis circles, having gained entry into Centre of Excellence, Kolkata, and trained by S. Dey. She found herself buried under an barrage of shots from Arul Selvi in the first three games, then turned the match on its head with backhand counter-attacks afterwards.

The TN player felt the heat against an unknown who didn't know what it means to lose, committing enough errors for her own good. The 64h Senior Nationals is organised by the Maharashtra Table Tennis Association.

The results (singles first round):

Women: Jupi Borthakur (Asm) bt Shinjnee Mitra (Ben) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7; Anushsri Saha (Ben) bt N. Arul Selvi (TN) 9-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4; Runa Roy (Ben) bt Shika Sharma (Del) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8; Avanti Sinha (LIC) bt Madhurika Patkar (Maharashtra) 6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9, 11-3; Radhika Ghatnekar (Mah) bt S.Prasanna (TN) 111-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6; Mrigankhee Bordoloi (Asm) bt Swapna Mitra (DASCB) 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2; Ekta Bhambri (Del) bt Shruti Joshi (Mah) 9-11,11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-2; Shalini Sharma (UP) bt Saptparni Guha (RSPB) 7-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 12-10; Shalmali Mhatre (Mah) bt B.N.Ashwini (Kar) 11-9, 12-10, 11-4, 11-9; Kshipra Gogate (Mah) bt Anu (Pun) 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6; Shruti Gokhale (Mah) bt Prasunna Parikh (Guj) 3-11, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8 Soodeshna Chakravarty (TN) bt Nidha Pasha (MP) 11-1, 11-5, 11-3, 11-4; Deepali Jhaveri (Mah) bt Sanjuktka Gogoi (Asm) 12-10, 1-11, 11-7, 11-12, 7-11, 11-5, 12-10; Somna Bose (RSPB) bt Moon Moon Basak (Ben) 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4; K Shamini (TN) bt Janhavi Deshpande (Mah) 5-11,11-5,11-6,10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8;

Men: Sharat Kamal (RSPB) bt Rajesh Chaurasia (Ori) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4; Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) bt Gagan Choudhary (RBI) 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10; Prithviraj Bose (Ben) bt Ravishankar G (Kar) 11-1, 11-5, 11-3. 11-2; Uday Athreya (Kar) bt Subajit Saha. Jr (PSPB) 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9; R.Rajesh (TN) bt Subhodip Das (COE) 11-7, 11-4, 13-11, 11-8; Ranbir Das (RSPB) bt Jignesh Jaiswal (Guj) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11; Anirban Nandy (Ben) bt Parag Agarwal (UP) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, Subajit Saha (PSPB) bt Vinay Baiswade (Cht) 12-10, 12-10, 1104, 11-9; Shivaji Dutta (PSPB) bt Nilesh Vaid (MP) 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Nishant Kulkarni (Mah) bt Anupam Kanwar (Asm) 4-11, 1109, 11-6, 11-6, 11-2; Deepak Thukral (BSB) bt Soumoujit Karjee (STTA) 13-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7; Jayant Chandra (AP) bt N.Senthil (TN) 11-9, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Rohit Choudhury (Mah) bt Rajiv Ghai (Del) 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9; Arup Basak (Ben) bt Zaberjeet Singh (UP) 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3; Swapnil Namjoshi (Mah) bt Selvam Muthukumar (Pon) 13-11, 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10; Nachiket Joshi (Mah) bt Abhishek Puri (Del) 11-3, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5. 8-11. 11-4; Anal Kashyap (Raj) bt Vanit Chopra (Pun) 12-10, 11-3, 1-11, 11-7, 11-7; K. Srivatsa (TN) bt Tanmoi Dutta (COE) 11-8, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8.

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