The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Sharath leads India to quarterfinals; women lose

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Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009
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Sport - Table Tennis

Sharath leads India to quarterfinals; women lose

Rakesh Rao

Sharath avenges the loss he suffered to Ahadi in the Indian Open in Indore
Indian women finish third

— Photo: Subir Roy

BOUNCING BACK: Soumyadeep Roy rallied to beat Iran’s Mehran Ahadi.

NEW DELHI: Sharath Kamal’s gallant display, capped by Soumyadeep Roy’s superb finish against Iran, earned India a rare meeting with favourite China in the men’s quarterfinals of the Asian table tennis championship here.

After a rather tame surrender to Thailand cost India’s women a place in the First Division final and with it, a qualifying berth for the quarterfinals, the men’s 3-2 victory over Iran remained the only source of joy for the team’s supporters at the U.P. Badminton Academy hall.

The women eventually finished third before the men from Democratic People’s Republic of Korea handed out 3-1 drubbing to the host in an inconsequential First Division final.

Against Iran, Sharath twice levelled the match-score to offset the defeats of Roy and Sourav Chakraborty. Sharath avenged the loss suffered to Ahadi in the Indian Open in Indore earlier this year by rallying from 7-10 in the third game and 2-7 in the fourth. He later shut out Noshad Daronkolaie. Thereafter, Roy bounced back in the deciding singles against Mehran Ahadi.

The quarterfinal line-up:

Men: China-India; Korea-Hong Kong; Chinese Taipei-Singapore; DPR Korea-Japan.

Women: China-Thailand; Korea-Japan; Hong Kong-Chinese Taipei; DPR Korea-Singapore.

The results: First Division:

Men: Final: DPR Korea bt India 3-1 (Jang Song Man bt Sharath Kamal 18-16, 11-5, 11-8); Kim Hyok Bong bt Soumyadeep Roy 11-3, 11-5, 11-9; Kim Song Guk gave a walkover to Zubin Kumar; Kim Hyok Bong bt Sharath 11-5, 19-17, 11-4).

Semifinals: DPR Korea bt Macao 3-1; India bt Iran 3-2 (Roy lost to Noshad Alamiyan Daronkolaie 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 4-11; Sharath bt Mehran Ahadi 10-12, 11-9, 13-11, 11-9; Sourav Chakraborty lost to Mohammadreza Akhlaghpasand 10-12, 8-11, 8-11; Sharath bt Noshad 12-10, 11-5, 11-7; Roy bt Ahadi 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5).

Quarterfinals: Macao bt Uzbekistan 3-2; DPR Korea bt Thailand 3-1; Iran bt Malaysia 3-0; India bt Pakistan 3-0 (Roy bt Syed Kazmi 11-8, 11-2, 11-7; Sharath bt Yousaf Muhammad 11-6, 11-9, 11-5; Anirban Nandi bt Iqbal Bhatti 11-9, 11-4, 11-5).

Women: Final: DPR Korea bt Thailand 3-0. Semifinals: DPR Korea bt Malaysia 3-1; Thailand bt India 3-0 (Nanthana Komwong bt Mouma Das 11-4, 11-7, 11-9; Suthasini Sawettabut bt K. Shamini 11-5, 11-6, 13-11; Anisara Muangsuk bt Poulomi Ghatak 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8).

For third place: India bt Malaysia 3-2 (Shamini bt Chiu Soo Jiin 11-8, 11-4, 13-11; Divya Deshpande lost to Beh Lee Wei 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11; Pooja Sahasrabhudhe bt Fan Xiao Jun 11-13, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9; Shamini lost to Beh Lee Wei 8-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11; Divya bt Chiu Soo Jiin 11-5, 11-5, 11-6).

Quarterfinals: DPR Korea bt Uzbekistan 3-0; Malaysia bt Kazakhstan 3-0; India bt Macao 3-0 (Mouma Das bt Lam Lia Wa 11-6, 11-4, 11-4; Shamini bt Cheong Cheng I 11-2, 11-3, 11-8; Poulomi bt Lo Pui Si 11-2, 11-2, 11-8); Thailand bt Sri Lanka 3-0.

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