Ghosh regains title, high-fives for Mouma

Pudhucherry, January 17, 2015: Soumyajit Ghosh defeated top-seed G. Sathiyan 4-2 to regain the men’s singles crown for the second time while top-seed Mouma Das downed Poulami Ghatak, also by the same margin, for her fifth women’s singles title at the 76th Senior Nationals at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here today.

Ghosh took home Rs. 2 lakh and Mouma, who was taking on Poulami for the fourth time since their first final appearance in 1998 at Ajmer, received Rs. 1.40 lakh. The runners-up in both section got half the amount as their prize money.

Ghosh, who first won the title at Raipur two years ago, had to prove a point to himself rather than his critics. And today, he showed it by beating the top seed. No doubt, Sathiyan was in a great form this season and things were even going well for him until the semifinals. But in the final, Ghosh was not only superb but also came into his attacking self.

With a comfortable 3-1 cushion, Sathiyan was playing into Ghosh’s hands and the latter had to simply keep the ball on the table. In fact, that was he did with perfect placing and good, aggressive backhand winners. A rattled Sathiyan, however hard he tried, could not come to his own terms and surrendered to the guiles of Ghosh.   

5 out of 10 for Mouma

Ten final appearances and five national titles are not bad at all. And Mouma, who has been rewarded for her perseverance and longevity, was a deserving winner on the day. Any new comer would have thrown in the towel after being 0-2 down, but Mouma always thrived on challenges. Launching her attack from the third game, the 32-year-old played true to her potential and outwitted Poulami Ghatak with clean execution of shots from both flanks and top-spin backhand serves.

Poulami, in spite of her ability to come back any time, was somewhat hampered by Mouma’s tactics and was committing far too many mistakes. Once Mouma equalized, it was always going to be difficult for Poulami to beat her opponent, known for her steely nerves.

Except for one semifinal each in the men and women’s sections, the two others were totally one-sided. If Sathiyan, in a roaring form this season, made mincemeat of Harmeet Desai with an outright 4-0 victory, six-time national champion Poulami Ghatat was equally severe on young Ankita Das. The reigning champion from Siliguri was out of depths and it was visible in her semifinal match against Poulami.

Unlike these two semifinals, the one between Soumyajit Ghosh and surprise package Raj Mondal had all the thrilling moments. In fact, the match seemed going only one way as Mondal was raised his game against the former national champion, going 3-1 up. But Ghosh’s fighting qualities stood him in good stead as he came back nicely to take the last three games.

In fact, Mondal had a very good chance in the sixth game but he only managed to stretch Ghosh a bit before the latter levelled the score.  Having done that, Ghosh played a cool game to sew up the decider, much to the disappointment of Mondal, who will rue the missed chance, after making his maiden semifinals appearance. He was, probably, guilty of not keeping the initial attacking posture, instead preferring to slow down midway through.

Mouma, as usual, played her sizing up game before upping the ante to go 2-1 up. Shamini, who showed her true grit in the pre-quarterfinals against Mousumi Paul, was patchy in the semifinals. Mouma, on the other hand, kept the momentum going her way, despite losing a game or two in between, to set up the fourth final against Poulami.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 4-2 (11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11, 13-15, 11-9); Semifinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5), Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Raj Mondal (RBI) 4-3 (8-11, 11-5, 4-11, 4-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-8).

Doubles: Final: Sanil Shetty/Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Jubin Kumar/Sourav Chakraborty (Har) 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7).

Women’s Singles: Final: Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) 4-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-3, 14-12, 11-7, 11-6); Semifinals: Mouma Das (PSPB) bt K. Shamini (PSPB) 4-3 (7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-5), Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-1 (11-1, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-1).

Doubles: Final: Mouma Das/K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar/Vedika Garga (Mah-B) 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-5).

Mixed Doubles: Final: Raj Mondal/Krittwika Sinha Roy (RBI) bt Sourav Saha/Mousumi Paul (WB) 3-1 (7-11, 11-2, 11-1, 11-7). 

A TTFI Press release