The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Mondal, Ankita are champions

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Tuesday, Jan 03, 2006

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Sport - Table Tennis

Mondal, Ankita are champions

Sports Reporter

PONDICHERRY: Raj Mondal and Ankita Das were crowned champions in the sub-junior boys' and girls' sections of the Suzlon Energy Ltd. National cadet and sub-junior table tennis championships, organised by Pondicherry State TTA at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here on Monday.

Avik Das and Mallika Bhandarkar emerged triumphant in the cadet boys' and girls' categories. Barring the cadet girls' title, the remaining three were bagged by North Bengal.

Mondal, the eighth seed, overcame his club-mate Soumyajeet Ghosh, seeded third, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10 in the sub-junior boys' final. Ankita Das crushed a late challenge from the top-seeded Shruti Talnikar of Maharashtra `A' 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9.

The contest between Mondal, known for his attacking instincts, and Ghosh, for his excellent blocking capabilities, was billed as an exciting match-up. In the end, it turned out to be a one-sided encounter.

Ghosh played really well during most of the rallies but couldn't maintain the tempo when it came to the crunch. For the first two games, Mondal's weapon — the forehand top-spin kept deserting him, and Ghosh was getting a lot of points with his block in the first two games. But once Mondal started to find his rhythm, Ghosh found it difficult to dominate the rallies.

Still Ghosh put more balls on the table, forcing Mondal to commit errors, and was leading 8-7 in the fourth game. Mondal, however, held on. A forehand dumped into the net by Ghosh gave Mondal the title on his second match point.

Error-prone

The top-seed Shruti was error-prone in the sub-junior girls' summit clash with Ankita. Even though Shruti fought back to reduce the margin to 2-3, a discerning eye could make out that her game was shaky. Serving for the match at 10-8 in the sixth game, Ankita pushed one long, but didn't make any mistake on her second match point forcing Shruti to hit a forehand long.

M.C. Chowhan, Secretary General, TTFI, gave away the prizes.

PTI reports:

Four members of the Bengal girls' team were physically assaulted at a guest house where they were staying, said team manager Partha Pratim Dutta. Dutta said some individuals forcibly entered the room in the wee hours on January 1 and assaulted them.

``Before entering this room, they ransacked another room where some sub-junior boys were staying,'' Dutta told PTI over phone from Pondicherry.

The results:

Sub-junior boys (final): Raj Mondal (NB) bt Soumyajeet Ghosh (NB) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.

Cadet boys (final): Avik Das (NB) bt CHSSV Ramana (AP) 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9; (semifinals): Avik Das bt Arnab Adhikari (NB) 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4; CHSSV Ramana bt Anubhav Kundu (Ben) 11-6, 8-11, 12-14, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.

Sub-junior girls (final): Ankita Das (NB) bt Shruti Talnikar (Mah `A') 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9; (semifinals): Sruti Talnikar bt S. Sahana (Kar) 12-10, 11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 4-11, 16-14, 11-8; Ankita Das (NB) bt K.K. Narmadha (TN) 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 8-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-5.

Cadet girls (final): Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah `A') bt Charvy Kawle (Mah `A') 13-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6; (semifinals): Mallika Bhandarkar bt Camelia Sill (WB) 11-3, 11-5, 11-5, 12-10; Charvy Kawle bt S. Krithicka (TN) 14-12, 13-11, 13-11, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8.

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