Ghosh, Manika labour for singels titles

New Delhi, August 2: National champion Soumyajit Ghosh stamped his authority, though with a bit of struggle, to beat his PSPB colleague Harmeet Desai 4-2 to win the men’s singles final in the RSPB-hosted 45th All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagraj Stadium here today. The women’s crown went to Delhi’s Manika Batra, who beat Ankita Das 4-1.

The two winners collected the prize purse of Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 58,000, respectively, for their efforts.

Ghosh had to overcome a stubborn Desai in the final. Ghosh, who lost the final to G. Sathiyan last year at the same venue, managed to put it across Desai who led 1-0. But once Ghosh made it 2-1, it seemed difficult for Desai. Yet, the Gujarat lad came back in the fourth game, giving a glimpse of returning to his semifinal form. However, Ghosh had other ideas and in the sixth game, after saving six match points, won on the seventh to sew up the title.  This Ghosh’s third Institutional title—he won his first at Kolkata in 2011 and the second at Dharwad in 2013.

It was Manika’s second singles title, coming after three year. She had beaten Poulami GhataK in the 2012 Institutional championships at Burnpur, West Bengal. Though the match did not rise to the standards of a final, Manika’s win in the fourth game—she was down 0-5—turned the match upside down. Ankita, down and out at 1-3, tried hard to come back in the fifth but it was too late in the day.

In comparison, however, her semifinal against Madhurika Patkar was the tournament of the match. The two Petroleum stalwarts matched stroke for stroke and what endeared Manika to the sparse audience was her perseverance and the’ willpower.

Manika was completely out in the dumps at 1-3 and she upped her game several notches with excellent combination strokes, particularly her forehand shots coming good in a long time, to catch her opponent on the wrong foot.

When she took the fifth game at 11-7 with a forehand scorcher, she was back in her elements. From there on Manika went on to level 3-3 with an obvious upper hand in the decider. Leading 8-4 and 9-7, she was just a couple of points away from the match. It was then that Madhurika made most of Manika’s unforced errors, both at the net as well as pushing the ball away in her anxiety to close out, to take three consecutive points.

Then it became 8-9 and Madurika made it 9-9. From here, it was anybody’s game and match. Points went with serve after 10-all and if Manika was guilty of squandering seven match points, Madhurika, too, has to share the blame for wasting three match points. However, Manika held on her nerve on the eighth match point and returned well. Madhurika couldn’t reply in the same vein and sent the ball out giving a big sigh of relief for both Manika and her coach Sandeep Gupta.

In the second semifinals, Ankita struggled initially and trailed 1-2 only steady her game and outwit the former national champion K. Shamini 4-2. Ankita’s combination strokes brooked little challenge from opponent Shamini, who seemed to play from her memories.

In the men’s semifinals, Harmeet Desai raised his game a notch higher than Anthony Amalraj and earned berth in the final. Desai, who won 4-1, had fewer moments of challenge from the former national champion, unlike in the quarterfinals against West Bengal’s Anirban Ghosh yesterday. In the second, Soumyajit Ghosh mauled Sanil Shetty 4-0 without giving the latter a semblance of chance.

RBI’s maiden title

In men’s doubles top-seeded pair of Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai lost 2-3 to Abhishek Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover. The younger PSPB pair was 1-2 down but made a good comeback to win the last two crucial games, the last one being an extended game.

But RBI’s Krittwika Sinha Roy and Shweta Party, in their maiden final, outplayed the RSPB pairs of Anindita Chakraborty and Pallabi Kundu 3-2 to claim their title. Railways veteran Anindita, playing from her experience, did well to combine with her partner Pallabi and levelled the score only to surrender in the decider.

The mixed doubles crown went the way of PSPB’s Sanil Shetty and Manika Batra who beat teammates Jubin Kumar and Neha Aggarwal 3-0.

All doubles winners received Rs. 10,000 each while the runners-up pairs got Rs. 5,000 each.  

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 4-2 (8-11, 11-5, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 18-16); Semifinals: Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 4-1 (12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10), Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 4-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9).

Women Singles: Final: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7); Semifinals: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 4-3 (3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7, 11-4, 20-18), Ankita Das (PSPB) bt K. Shamini (PPB) 4-2 (11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8).

Men’s Doubles: Final: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh/Harmeet Desai 3-2 (5-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8, 15-13). 

Women’s Doubles: Final: Krittwika Sinha Roy/Shweta Parte (RBI) bt Anindita Chakraborty/Pallabi Kundu (RSPB) 3-2 (11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6).

Mixed Doubles: Final: Sanil Shetty/Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Jubin Kumar/Neha Aggarwal (PSPB) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-8).

A TTFI Press release