Jaipur: Giant killer Manav Thakkar disposed of fifth seeded Jubin Kumar 4-3 to enter the semifinals of the AAI 46th All India Inter-Institutional Championships at the SMS Indoor Stadium here on Thursday. The unseeded Manav had earlier sent No. 4 seed Harmeet Desai packing in the pre-quarterfinals.
He will take on Anthony Amalraj who easily beat PSPB colleague Sourav Saha 4-1. In the other quarterfinals, A. Sharath Kamal, unable to adapt, went 3-4 down to Sanil Shetty and will take on G. Sathiyan in the second semifinals tomorrow. Sathiyan accounted for LIC’s Sougata Sarkar 4-2.
Of the four Rio-bound players, only Mouma Das survived to see another day while other seeds failed to sprout, including seed Manika Batra, No. 3 seed Reeth Rishya, sixth and seveth seeds K. Shamini and Shruti Amrute, Manav’s performance more heartwarming. For Manav, who was a finalist in the Junior and Youth Nationals at Dharamsala last year, it was a quantum leap representing the PSPB.
In a see-saw quarterfinal battle, the youngster taught a few lessons to teammate Jubin Kumar who, despite staging a remarkable recovery, was at the receiving end almost throughout.
The trend of seeds perishing began when eight-seeded Soumyajit Ghosh preferred to give a walkover to RBI’s Raj Mondal, rather than putting his chances in the Rio Olympics in jeopardy.
“Having practised with DHS (Double Happiness) balls, which will be used during the Games, for the last three months I realized during team championships that the ball used here (for the tournament) was different in more ways than one. With our departure to Rio scheduled in the next couple of days, adapting to the one used here and again reverting to DHS in a few days’ time could mar my performance at Rio,” said Ghosh.
“I was in a real predicament. Keeping the interests of the country ahead I decided to give a walkover rather than continuing. Winning or losing here will not make much of a difference to me but what is significant is how best I can perform at the Games,” explained Ghosh on his walkover.
However, A. Sharath Kamal had a different reason for his continuation despite the difficulty in adjusting to the ball because of his responsibility. “You always run a risk of switching over from one ball to another. I was prepared to take the risk because I have a responsibility and I was competing only in singles here,” said a matured Sharath.
He, too, agreed that his performance at Rio was more important than winning the title here. “It hardly matters whether or not I can win here. But I certainly would want do well at the Games,” added the Indian table tennis icon.
PSPB add another title
The PSPB’s mixed doubles pair of G. Sathiyan and Ankita Das staved off a real threat and five match points to beat the AAI duo of Ronit Bhanja and Ayhika Mukherjee 3-2 to snatch the title. Down 0-2, the PSPB players came back with good intent to level. In the decider, too, they were cruising at 10-4 but the strings of unforced errors allowed AAI duo recover and close in at 9-10. Luckily, Sathiyan and Ankita converted their sixth match point to heave a big sigh of relief and claim the title.
Mouma Das huffed and puffed her way into the semifinals, thanks to her experience and cool head. She defeated Pooja Sahasrabuddhe 4-3. Pooja really had Mouma on the ropes—she allowed Mouma a lone point in the third game—but the Rio qualifier kept herself alive by winning the next. Mouma, despite trailing 2-3, continued her way attacking and it paid off.
Even in the pre-quarterfinals, Mouma had to combine courage with experience to outwit AAI’s Frenaz Chipia who managed two games against her.
The losses of Harmeet Desai, Manika Batra and K. Shamini should have hurt them personally but they must give it to their opponents—Manav Thakkar, Mousumi Paul and Suthirtha Mukherjee—who pinned them down to the mat with sterling performances.
Results:
Mixed Doubles Final: G. Sathiyan/Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja/Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9.
Women’s Quarterfinals: Madhuri Patkar (PSPB) beat Krittwika Sinha Roy (PSPB) 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6, Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) 11-9, 13-15, 1-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) beat Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-11, 11-9, 15-17, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, Mousumi Paul (PSPB) beat Swetha Kumaravel (IA&AD) 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11.
Men’s Quarterfinals: Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) beat Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-9, 11-5, 12-14, 11-8, 11-9, Manav Thakkar (PSPB) beat Jubin Kumar (PSPB) 11-4, 13-11, 11-13, 11-6, 2-11, 11-13, 11-8, Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) 11-5, 11-13, 11-8, 11-3, 8-11, 8-11, 9-11, G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 11-3, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5.
