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Raman, Poulomi reign supreme

By Our Sports Reporter

HYDERABAD SEPT. 22. Defending champion and top-seed S. Raman staged a remarkable fight back to record a 7-11, 11-8, 13-15, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-4 win over second-seeded Subhajit Saha to retain the title while Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) had a comparatively easy outing to clinch the women's singles title with a 11-7, 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 win over Mamata Prabhu in the 33rd all-India inter-institutional table tennis championship which concluded at Fateh Maidan Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

For the 34-year-old Raman it was a close shave as the 21-year-old Saha came up with an impressive all-round game to have the experienced opponent on the backfoot very early, raising hopes of another major upset. But the experience and class of Raman was to the fore when it mattered.

Raman's backhand never clicked and he had problems in reading the rolling serve of Saha and even countering the topspin returns. Despite this, Raman did remarkably well in the final moments.

His change of tactics to slow down the pace of the game towards the end of the sixth game proved decisive, albeit with a stroke of luck. Making amends for his lack of agility, Raman covered it up with a high quality game.

Every time the ball was in the centre of the table, he was ruthless in unleashing forehand cross-court returns which had Saha searching. But Saha had to blame himself for he frittered away a wonderful chance of wrapping up the final after a convincing 8-3 lead in the sixth game. That was the phase when Raman played cool and let his opponent make mistakes.

A stroke of luck saw Raman's backhand return roll on to the other side which Saha hit out to level 10-10. Raman then came up with a fierce forehand down the line to make it 11-10 and by employing the cut-service Raman picked the game point too when Saha's return was again erratic.

Grabbing the chance, Raman lifted the level of his game to a different plane in the decider. Unlike in the previous games, his topspin serves were spot on and caused problems for Saha.

Soon, Raman raced to a 7-2 lead and experience prevailed over youthful exuberance as Raman kept picking the big points as suddenly every aspect of his game clicked. "No doubt, that net point was the turning point but I did play well when he might have thought I would not come back," said Raman to aptly sum up the thrilling final which fetched him a cash prize of Rs. 40,000 while Saha took home Rs. 20,000.

The women's final between Poulomi Ghatak and giant-killer Mamata Prabhu, was more of a mismatch. Poulomi came up with stunning forehand returns and employed the block to telling effect to counter the spin that Mamata managed. In a way, the final was an anti-climax as Poulomi romped home a comfortable winner and was richer by Rs. 30,000, with the runner-up getting Rs. 15000.

The results:

Men: Singles: Final: S. Raman (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 7-11, 11-8, 13-15, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5. Semifinals: S. Raman bt Sharat Kamal (PSPB) 12-10, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-6; Subhajit Saha (PSPB) bt Soumya Deep Roy (PSPB) 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7.

Doubles: Final: Sharat Kamal/Arup Basak(PSPB) bt G. Vinod/Jayant Chandra (RSPB) 13-11, 11-8, 11-9. Semifinals: Vinod/Jayant (RSPB) bt Jignesh Jaiswal/Pathik Mehta (BSB) 11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8; Sharat/Arup (PSPB) bt Jitender Kumar & Somnath Ghosh (COE, Kolkata) 12-10, 11-9, 11-7.

Women: Singles: Final: Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt Mamata Prabhu (RSPB) 11-7, 12-10, 11-3, 11-6. Semifinals: Mamata (RSPB) bt T. Pradeepa (PSPB) 4-11, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9; Poulomi (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7.

Doubles: Sumona Bose/Mousomi Paul (RSPB) bt N.R. Indu/T. Pradeepa (PSPB) 11-4, 11-9, 12-14, 5-11, 11-9. Semifinals: Indu/Pradeepa (PSPB) bt Sheri Crawford/S. Prasanna (BSB) 11-5, 11-6, 11-7; Sumona/Mousomi (RSPB) bt Arul Selvi/K. Shamini (BSB) 13-11, 11-5, 11-8.

Mixed doubles: Final: Sharat Kamal/T. Pradeepa (PSPB) bt Ranbir Das/Mousomi Paul (RSPB) 11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5.

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