New Delhi, May 10, 2013:
Indian paddlers came up with their best ever performance, but the chalk and
cheese difference became palpable in the 19th edition Commonwealth
Table Tennis Championships when the hosts miserably failed to up the ante in
six of the eight semifinals they were in on Friday.
Thus the great Indian show at the Thyagraj Stadium here
ended, minus the glitter of gold, as the hosts had to remain satisfied with six
bronze medals which they added to the collection of two silver medals (men’s
team and mixed doubles) and one bronze (women’s team) they had won until Thursday for
an overall tally of nine medals.
Canada’s Zhang Mo, who won gold in
women’s singles beating Yu Mengyu 4-3, stopped Singapore on their tracks from
making a clean sweep. Singapore,
however, finished with six gold, two silvers and three bronze medals. England
finished with three silver and two bronze medals.
The biggest Indian culprits were world’s top-ranked Indian
Achanta Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra and defending champions in men’s doubles,
Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha. Even Mouma Das, the best Indian on view with
four medals at the championships, flattered to deceive.
It was an outing that Sharath would like to forget for he
and Saha first lost to a relatively inexperienced English pair of Christopher
Doran and Samuel Walker 11-4 8-11 11-6 10-12 7-11. The Indian duo had its
chances on several occasions but messed them up at crucial times, giving away
easy points to their opponents.
Sharath could have made amends in the singles semifinals,
but failed to match the speed and guile of Hu Li. The 31-year-old Indian was
making far too many mistakes, including service errors, which cost him the
match. But the world No 55 must get his due as he rarely allowed the Indian any
liberty and went for the kill. Li won 4-1.
In the first game, Sharath levelled the score 8-8 and then
10-10 with his serve on. But another service error allowed his opponent take
1-0 lead. So frustrated was Sharath that he flung his racquet up in the air.
Luckily for the Indian, the umpires missed failed to show him the yellow card.
Then the Singaporean went 2-0 up before Kamal staved off some threat in the
third to win it 13-11 with good back hand returns and longer rallies.
There was a time in the fourth when the two were almost going
neck and neck, but for the third time Sharath made the cardinal blunder at his
serve and Li clinched the game 12-10. Li was merciless in the final game
as he wrapped it up with 11-4 score.
Sharath admitted to his mistakes. “I failed to make a match
of it and the first game loss really hurt me. Though I executed my plans
(attacking Li on his forehands) well, I was very bad with too many service
errors,” Sharath rued missing his chances.
In the women’s singles, Mouma Das fell to top-seed Mengyu Yu
2-4. Despite leading 2-1, the 29-year-old Indian failed to measure up to a
classy world No. 27. Mengyu, with excellent footwork and sharp returns troubled
the Indian far too much. The Singaporean did give some opportunities, but the
Indian failed to cash in on their loose offerings.
In the other women’s semifinal, Manika Batra was done in by
her own mistakes against Mo Zhang of Canada. The Indian teenager was erratic in
her shot select and gifted away several points. Lacking in maturity, the Delhi girl’s lapses were
visible when she let the Canadian take the first game despite the Indian’s 6-0
lead. Zhang, who won 4-3, was the cleverer of the two to make a match of it,
winning the crucial points as Manika wilted under pressure.
In the women’s doubles, Mouma Das and K Shamini lost to the
top-seeded duo of Feng Tianwei and Mengyu Yu of Singapore 0-3. In the other
semifinal, England’s
Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley beat the Indian pair of Madhurika Patkar and
Neha Aggarwal 3-1.
Chaturvedi, Ganeshan
in CTTF
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF)
nominated TTFI chief P.C. Chaturvedi as president of the CTTF, while inducting
Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer, the chief referee at the championships here, as the
full member of its technical committee during the AGM held on Thursday.
Chan Foong Keong of Malaysia
has been nominated as the secretary-general, according to Allan Ramsome,
chairman of the international body.
Chaturvedi, whoses term as president is for the next two
years, replaces Helen Hamilton, who passed away recently.
RESULTS:
Final: (Men): Singles: Zhan Jian (Sin) bt Li Hu 12-10, 11-7,
11-13, 12-10, 11-4;Semifinals: Zhan Jian (Sing) bt Chen Feng (Sin) 11-7, 11-8,
11-4, 11-9, Li Hu (Sin) bt A. Sharath Kamal (Ind) 12-10, 11-7, 11-13, 12-10,
11-4.
Doubles: Final: Zhan Jian/Yang Zi (Sin) bt Chiristopher
Doran/Saumel Walker (Eng) 13-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3; Semifinals: Christopher
Doran/Samuel Walker (Eng) bt A. Sharath Kamal/Subhajit Saha (Ind) 3-11, 11-9,
6-11, 12-10, 11-7, Zhan Jian/Yang Zi (Sin) bt Andrew Baggaley/Daniel Reed (Eng)
11-5, 11-3, 11-4.
Final: (Women): Singles: Zhang Mo (Can) bt Yu Mengyu (Sin)
11-6, 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8; Semifinals: Yu Mengyu (Sin) bt
Mouma Das (Ind) 11-8, 15-17, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, Zhang Mo (Sin) bt Manika
Batra (Ind) 11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6.
Doubles: Final: Feng Tianwel/Yu Mengyu (Sin) bt Joana
Parker/Kelly Sibley (Eng) 9-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-3; Semifinals: Feng
Tianwei/Yu Mengyu (Sin) bt K. Shamini/Mouma Das (Ind) 11-9, 11-9, 11-2, Joanna
Parker/Kelly Sibley (Eng) bt Neha Aggarwal/Madhurika Patkar (Ind) 11-8, 9-11,
11-7, 11-9.
