The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Smooth sailing for Sharath

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Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
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Sport - Table Tennis

Smooth sailing for Sharath

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Top-seeded A. Sharath Kamal of IOC needed to appear just once in the day and showed his class in storming into the singles semifinal of the PSCB inter-unit table tennis tournament at the JJ Stadium here on Friday.

The Chennai player, the current National champion, is in a hurry. He has a tournament in Dubai lined up and to suit that the men’s singles have been drawn to ensure the title is decided on Saturday instead of the next day.

The pace at which Sharath stopped the run of Devesh Karia of OIL reflected his urgency. The lanky player gave no room for his left-handed rival to draw inspiration. Be it in the back hand jab or in the forehand flourish, Sharath’s intent was clear: finish off in quick time.

Not surprisingly he was the first to enter the last four.

The competition was a lot closer in the women’s section. National champion Mouma Das of OIL was eclipsed in the quarterfinal stage by Vishaka Vijay of ONGC, who is known for her ability to cause upsets.

Then there was T. Pradeepa of IOC, a local player known for her gritty displays. Pradeepa provided glimpses of that with a fight back from two games down to get past Sushmita Roy for a semifinal berth.

Not lagging in intensity was K. Shamini, also of IOC who wore down experienced Poulomi Ghata of BPCL in five games.

The results:

Men’s singles (quarterfinals): A. Sharath Kamal (IOC) bt Devesh Karia (OIL) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8; Subhajit Saha (IOC) bt Sowmyadeep Roy (IOC) 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 5-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8; Ranbir Das (ONGC) bt Anal Kashyap (OIL) 10-12, 13-11, 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7; Subham Choudhury (ONGC) bt Jubin Kumar (OIL) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 2-11, 11-9.

Pre-quarterfinals: Devesh Karia bt Arunava Ganguly (ONGC) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8; Ranbir Das bt Rajiv Ghai (IOC) 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9; Anal Kashyap bt C.D. Dalvi (HPCL) 11-3, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6; Soumyadeep Roy bt Arup Basak (HPCL) 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5; Subhajit Saha bt Subhadeep Das (ONGC) 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7.

Women’s singles (quarterfinals): Neha Agarwal (BPCL) bt Madhuri Patkar (ONGC) 11-3, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; T. Pradeepa (IOC) bt Sushmita Roy (BPCL) 2-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7 11-9, 11-6; K. Shamini (IOC) bt Poulomi Ghatak (BPCL) 12-10, 11-2, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10; Vishaka Vijay (ONGC) bt Mouma Das (OIL) 9-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-9, 11-7.

Pre-quarterfinals: Madhurika Patkar bt N.R. Indu (IOC) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5; Sushmita Roy bt J. Swarna (ONGC) 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 13-11; T. Pradeepa bt Montu Ghosh (OIL) 3-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9; K. Shamini bt Nandita Saha (OIL) 12-10, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7, 11-5; Poulomi Ghatak bt Mousami Paul (ONGC) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Vishaka Vijay bt Kasturi Chakraborty (IOC) 8-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7; Mouma Das bt B. Bhuvaneswari (BPCL) concd.

Mixed doubles (semifinals): Nandita Saha & Subhajit Saha (OIL) bt J. Swarna & Ranbir Das (ONGC) 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9; Vishaka Vijay & Subham Choudhary (ONGC) bt Kasturi Chakraborty & Soumyadeep Roy (IOC) 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6.

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