Panchkula: A. Sharath Kamal defeated Soumyajit Ghosh 4-3 to win the men’s singles final of the UTT National Ranking North Zone Table Tennis Championships trophy at the Tau Devi Lal Multipurpose Indoor Stadium here today.
The 39-year-old top-seed led 3-1 but a mentally strong Soumyajit staged a good recovery to level the score 3-3 before Sharath ended his chance of a title victory the Haryana paddler had been searching for quite some time now. For Sharath, it was the first zonal title after Vizag in 2016.
Sharath should have finished in the sixth game itself when she led 5-0. He, however, allowed Soumyajit to claw his way back to take the issue to the decider. In the last game, Sharath showed his class and wasted little time, picking up the winner’s purse of Rs. 84,000.
The women singles had two worthy players in eighth-seed Prapti Sen and unseeded Swastika Ghosh, making it to the final for the first time. The pendulum of fortune swung from one extreme to another until the decider. But for this, one could predict their approaches. However, Prapti made fewer mistakes than Swastika. That made the difference between lifting the trophy and losing the grip over it. Despite being unwell, the little girl from Kolkata seized the opportunity to take home the prize money of Rs. 72,000.
Even before the men’s singles final had begun, one had witnessed the best matches of championships during the two semi-final encounters, the first involving Sharath and Harmeet and the second between a rejuvenated Soumyajit Ghosh and Manav Thakkar.
Sharath trailed 1-3 as Harmeet did most things right in the first four games. However, in the fifth, the top-seed launched himself with a vengeance to finish on a winning note. The sixth was a tricky affair. But Sharath, after levelling the score at 9-9, completed the two points to come on level terms.
Sharath made a reasonably good start in the decider with momentum on his side. But a couple of service errors and some clever game from Harmeet saw the paddler from Gujarat surging ahead. Peeved at his inability to finish well, Sharath was at some discomfiture. However, he saved a match-point to deuce. Using the service advantage, Sharath went up 11-10, and when Harmeet served, Sharath knew his return of service to his opponent’s extreme right would pin Harmeet down. Expectedly, Gujarat man just about managed to push the ball back to the net.
In the second semi-final, one could see a fully confident Soumyajit returning to the table with a positive mindset. Despite losing the first game 14-16, Soumyajit went 3-1 up. Manav, with his characteristic fightback, levelled 3-3. Gaining confidence, Manav played brilliantly but failed to convert three match-points to his advantage. Seizing the moment, the Haryana paddler won the second and final extended game for the match.
In the women’s singles semi-finals, Prapti Sen outsmarted Takeme Sarkar to win 4-1 while Swastika Ghosh blanked out Anusha Kutumbale 4-0. Prapti made most of an error-prone the girl from the Railways. She could not come to grips with the pace of the match. On the other hand, it was a cakewalk for Swastika as Anusha suddenly found it difficult to keep the ball on the table.
In the Youth Under-19 Boys, top four seeds Payas Jain, Deepit R Patil, Yashansh Malik, and H. Jeho entered the quarterfinals. Similarly, in the Under-19 Girls, Swastika Ghosh, Diya Chitale, Suhana Saini, and Yashaswini Ghorpade moved into the last-eight stages.
Results:
Men Singles: Final: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (Har) 6-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6.
Semi-finals: Sharath Kamal bt Harmeet Desai 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 12-10; Soumyajit Ghosh bt Manav Thakkar 14-16, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 9-11, 14-12.
Women Singles: Final: Prapti Sen (Beng-A) bt Swastika Ghosh (AAI) 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 15-13.
Semi-finals: Prapti Sen bt Takeme Sarkar 15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10; Swastika Ghosh bt Anusha Kutumbale 11-9, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6.
