The Hindu : Sport : Subhajit Saha surprises Monteiro

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Saturday, Feb 10, 2007
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Subhajit Saha surprises Monteiro

Rakesh Rao

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

CREDITABLE WIN: India's Subhajit Saha did well to prevail over Thiago Monteiro of Brazil.

NEW DELHI: National champion Subhajit Saha had never beaten a top-100 player in the world. On Friday, this soft-spoken man from Siliguri, with unmistakable boyish looks, produced a mature performance to surprise world No. 94, Brazil's Thiago Monteiro in five games on way to the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Indian Open table tennis championship at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here.

Saha, ranked 319 in the world, followed the instructions from the Chinese coach Yin Wei and attacked vigorously after losing the opening game to script an impressive 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10, 11-4 over his doubles partner.

"Once I realised that he was very good with his top spin on both flanks, I had to catch him in the middle of the table. The ploy worked," said an elated Saha, who turns 25 this May and is due to marry Nandita Saha, on August 3. Nandita had made the quarterfinals a little earlier.

Candid admission

"I guess it is difficult for the players from the western countries to play on these tables where the ball spins more. This factor worked in my favour today," was the candid admission from Saha.

He plays former National champion Soumyadeep Roy, whom he blanked in straight sets in their previous meeting at Gandhidham. The other upset of the day was the exit of fifth seeded Croatian Andrej Gacina. He went down in seven games to Singapore's Ma Liang.

All other seeds, including India's spearhead A. Sharath Kamal entered the quarterfinals, as expected.

Among the ladies, all the seeds took their allotted places in the last-eight stage.

The results (Indians unless stated):

Men's singles (Pre-quarterfinals): Gao Ning (Sin) bt Pathik Mehta 11-2, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5; Cai Xaio Li (Sin) bt Jubin Kumar 14-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6; Ma Liang (Sin) bt Andrej Gacina (HRV) 11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9; Roko Tosic (HRV) bt Mehran Ahadi (Iri) 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 12-10, 3-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9; Subhajit Saha bt Thiago Moteiro (Bra) 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10, 11-4; Soumyadeep Roy bt A. Amal Raj 20-18, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8; Sharath Kamal bt Afshin Norouzi (Iri) 11-8, 14-12, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4; Yang Zi (Sin) bt David Jacobs (Ina) 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.

Women's singles (Pre-quarterfinals): Sun Bei Bei (Sin) bt Divya Deshpande 11-6, 11-3, 11-2, 11-4; Nandita Saha bt Kasturi Chakraborti 11-5, 13-11, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10; Ma Ming Lu (Sin) bt K. Shamini 11-6, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6; Yuki Nonaka (Jpn) bt Mousumi Paul 11-9, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4; Poulomi Ghatak bt Pooja Sahastrabudhe 11-6, 20-18, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7; Su Yue (Sin) bt Madhurika Patkar 11-7, 11-8, 11-2, 11-3; Mouma Das bt Vishakha Bijoy 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, 13-15, 12-14, 10-12, 11-6; Yu Meng Yu (Sin) bt Sandhya Shakya (Nep) 11-4, 11-2, 11-2, 11-2.

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