Anirban wins hearts, sets up semifinal clash with Sharath

Bengaluru, September 8, 2012: In a never-before seen men’s singles clash Anirban Ghosh, who will turn 14 this December, taught some crucial lessons to 18-year-old college student Sushmit Sriram from Tamil Nadu in theIndian Oil Servo National Ranking (South Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here today.

Competing in the men’s singles, Anirban defeated Sriram 4-3 (10-12, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 12-14, 11-8) in a nerve-wracking pre-quarterfinal match late in the evening. The sub-junior title winner here will now take on the top-seed and world No. 73 Achanta Sharath Kamal in the semifinals tomorrow. 

In the other quarterfinals Soumyadeep Roy defeated R. Abhishek 3-2 while Jubin Kumar from Gujarat. Kumar downed No. 2 Sanil Shetty 4-0. They will meet each other in the other semifinal.   

As for the women’s quarterfinals, top-seeded Poulomi Ghatak dismissed Mousmi Paul in straight games, K. Shamini struggled against Madhurika Patkar to win 4-2, Mouma Das beat Divya Deshpande 4-1 and Ankita Das downed Mamata Prabhu 4-1. Incidentally, all those who made it to the semifinals are representing PSPB which is a pointer to the domination of their paddlers.

In the Youth Boys semifinals, G. Sathiyan of PSPB beat Nishad Shah 4-0 and he will meet Sourav Saha, also of PSPB, in the final. Saha defeated Sudhanshu Grover of PSPB Academy 4-2.

As for Anirban’s match, the little boy from West Bengal towered over the tall and lanky Sriram with an excellent display of aggression and variations in both his serve as well as returns. He employed his loop returns to greater effect to outwit the Tamil Nadu teenager. 

In a see-saw quarterfinal clash, the fortune swung from one extreme to another. But what clinched the issue in favour was Anirban’s perseverance in the decider. Down 4-8, he literally stole seven straight points to enter the semifinals to a thunderous applause from the sparse crowd.

Results:

Junior Boys (Final): Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt K.R. Rohit (TN) 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9; Semifinals: K.R. Rohit (TN) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt D. Samira Kumar (TN) 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13; Quarterfinals: Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) bt R. Anandhraj (AAI) 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 14-12, K.R. Rohit (TN) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 11-1, 11-9, 11-4, 11-2, D. Sameera Kumar (TN) bt Peeyush Prasad (Del) 11-13, 14-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) 15-13, 11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8.

 Junior Girls (Final): Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5;Semifinals: Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 13-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-8, Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 13-11, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 14-12, Quarterfinals: Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt T. Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 14-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3, Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Narasimha Priya (PSPB) 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) bt Senhora D’Souza (Mah) 10-12, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9.

Men (Quarterfinals): A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Jignesh Jaiswal (Guj) 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, Jubin Kumar (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9, Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Sushmit Sriram (AAI) 10-12, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 12-14, 11-8, Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) bt R. Abhishek (TN) 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 4-11, 6-11, 13-11; Quarterfinals:A Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 11-1, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, Jignesh Jaiswal (Guj) bt  Amal Baglu (RSPB) 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, Sushmit Sriram (AAI) bt L. Sachin (TN) 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, Jubin Kumar (PSPB) bt Mohit Verma (IA&AD) 10-12, 12-10, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Ravi Joshi (LIC) 11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, R. Abhishek (TN) bt N.V. Thiruvengadam (AAI) 18-16, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) w/o Ranbir Das (PSPB).

 Women: Quarterfinals: Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt Mousmi Paul (PSPB) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5, K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 11-1, 17-15, 13-11, 11-9, Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Mamata Prabhu (DB) 12-10, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6; Pre-quarterfinals: Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt V. Sneha (IB) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7, Maousmi Paul (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4, 11-9, Divya Deshpande (PSPB) bt Kabita Das (ESIC) 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12, 11-3, Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 11-4, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8, Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Neha Aggarwal (Del) 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7, Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 11-6, 13-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, Mamata Prabhu (DB) bt Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) 12-10, 14-16, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 11-3, 11-7, 11-13, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9.

Youth Boys (Semifinals): G. Sathiyan bt Nishad Shah (AI) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3; Quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt N.V. Thiruvengadam (AAI) 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Mohit Verma (IA&AD) 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, Nishad Shah (AI) bt D. Sameera Kumar (TN) 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5; Pre-quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Vivek Bhargava (Raj) 11-3, 9-11, 12-10,  11-6, 11-6, N. V. Thiruvengadam (AAI) bt Rajib Sarkar (NB) 8-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, Nishad Shah (AI) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, D. Samira Kumar (TN) bt Sushmit Sriram (AAI) 3-11, 11-9, 17-15, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2, Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Avik Das (RSPB) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7, Mohit Verma (IA&AD) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4, Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt K.R. Rohit (TN) 9-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) bt A.R. Navneet (Kar) 11-7, 11-9, 14-12, 11-4.

Youth Girls (Semifinals): Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Nikhat Banu (AAI) 1-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9, Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) bt V. Sneha (IB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4; Quarterfinals: V. Sneha (IB) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 1108, 12-10, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, Nikhat Banu (AAI) bt Sumana R. Krishnan (IB) 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, Manika Batra (PSPB) bt N. Vidhya (DB) 11-2, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7.  

A TTFI Press release