The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Sharath, Shamini triumph

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Sport - Table Tennis

Sharath, Shamini triumph

Amitabha Das Sharma

— PHOTO: RANJEET KUMAR

CHAMPIONS: PSPB’s A. Sharath Kamal and K. Shamini, the winners of the singles titles in the senior National table tennis championships at Patna on Sunday.

PATNA: A. Sharath Kamal lifted the men’s table tennis National crown for the third time in succession and in the women’s section, K. Shamini emerged the new champion in the Vizag Steel senior National table tennis championships here on Sunday.

In the men’s final, Sharath Kamal ended the spectacular run of unheralded Pathik Mehta of Gujarat, who had upstaged three seeded players before making his maiden final.

While Sharath as the top seed dominated the top half of the draw, unseeded Pathik created an upheaval with repeated upsets in the bottom half.

Pathik beat the second seeded Subhajit Saha in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals he ended the hopes of third-seeded Anthony Amal Raj.

Aggressive

The aggression and accuracy that had helped Pathik consume his other opponents was visible against Amal Raj, who struggled to find reply against former’s versatility.

In the other semifinal held in the morning, Sharath Kamal proved too strong for fourth seeded Sourav Chakraborty of Railways.

The National title came as a proper reward for the fine form Shamini had shown all through the season. Having triumphed in two zonal National ranking events a couple of moths ago, Shamini played with élan stopping a comeback bid from four-time National champion Mouma Das. Shamini, who had previously won the junior title, said that she had been “consistently trying to improve.”

Third title

Shamini picked up her third title in four tournaments she has played so far. The final, which was the ninth appearance for Mouma Das, saw Shamini taking an early lead winning three games quickly. Mouma tried to force a comeback winning the fourth and the fifth games. But before the Bengal player could complete the turnaround, Shamini salvaged five game points in the sixth game to get the match and the title in her favour.

Mouma paired with her long-time partner Poulami Ghatak to retain the women’s doubles title.

The men’s doubles was won by the top-seeded combination of Subhajit Saha and Amal Raj of Petroleum.

The results: Men’s singles (final): A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Pathik Mehta (Guj) 12-10, 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 12-10.

Semifinals: Sharath Kamal bt Sourav Chakraborty (RSPB) 11-7, 9-11, 11-1, 12-10, 12-10; Pathik Mehta bt A. Amal Raj (PSPB) 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8.

Doubles (final): Subhajit Saha / Amal Raj (PSPB) bt R.S. Raja / G. Sathiyan (TN) 8-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3.

Women’s singles (final): K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (WB) 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 13-11.

Semifinals: Shamini bt Divya Deshpande (Mah-A) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7; Mouma Das bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe (Mah-A) 11-5, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7.

Doubles (final): Poulami Ghatak / Mouma Das (WB) bt Divya Deshpande / Ashlesha Bodas (Mah-A) 11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7.

Mixed doubles (final): Aniket Koparkar / Pooja Sahasrabudhe (Mah-A) bt Subham Chowdhury / Mousumi Pal (WB) 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6.

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