Indian men draw a blank in Asian Table Tennis Championships

 Busan, July 6, 2013: The Indian men’s challenge in the singles event ongoing at the Asian Table Tennis Championships at the Sajik Gymnasium here came to an end today with all four paddlers in fray, including Achanta Sharath Kamal, biting the dust.

The only highpoint of Indian participation was the way left-handed Sanil Shetty, ranked 311, fought his way in the third round against 28th ranked Matsudaira Kenta before being subdued by the Japanese 4-2 (11-3, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5).

The 23-year-old Shetty, after trailing 0-3, surprised his Japanese opponent with an excellent attacking game to upset his rhythm. Shetty was equally good on his backhand and his forehand scorchers brooked little challenge from the Japanese in the fourth and fifth games. But Kenta made amends for his lapse of concentration in the earlier two games and finished the sixth game without giving much leeway to the Indian.

Earlier, Sharath Kamal lost to a higher ranked Chinese opponent Zhou Yu in straight games. The 44th ranked Chinese took a while before coming to grips to beat Sharath Kamal 12-10, 11-3, 11-4, 11-4. Another Chinese and world No. 1 Xu Xin accounted for Harmeet Desai as the Indian lost 5-11, 9-11, 10-12, 1-11. Except in the third game where the Indian had some measure of his opponent, there was little chance for Desai. Hong Kong’s Jiang Tiani then defeated Anthony Amalraj 4-1 (14-12, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11) to culminate the Indian participation at the meet.

A TTFI Press release

Ankita loses in pre-quarters as Indian challenge ends in women's singles

 Busan, July 5, 2013: The Indian challenge in the women’s singles came to an end at the Asian Table Tennis Championships with Olympian Ankita Das joining the ranks of compatriots K. Shamini and Mouma Das at the Sajik Gymnasium here today.

Ankita Das, who gave a great push to Indian table tennis hopes by conquering 20th-ranked South Korean Yang Haeun in the third round this morning, faltered in the pre-quarterfinals as she went down to China’s Chen Meng, ranked eighth in the world, in straight games of 6-11, 1-11, 5-11, 8-11.

Ankita was still regrouping herself from the exhaustive 4-3 (11-7, 11-4, 5-11, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-4) victory over the Korean who had stretched the Siliguri girl to seven games in the morning, but had to meet the Chinese soon after. That took a toll on the 20-year-old who did not have an answer to the guiles of the Chen Meng. Ankita faltered both on her back and forehands and failed to overcome a heavy top spin game of Meng.

“I was feeling tired and exhausted after the morning match. But the Chinese was too good in the pre-quarters. I could not employ my backhands well and she (Meng) executed excellent forehand shots,” said Ankita after her loss.

As for the other paddlers, Shamini’s result was foregone as she lost to world No. 1 Ding Ning of China. The 261st-ranked Indian 4-0 while the seasoned Mouma Das too looked tired after her marathon win yesterday against the Singapore girl Issabelle. Mouma was accounted for by Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa, ranked ninth, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 in the round of 32.

In the men’s doubles Indian pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sanil Shetty frittered away a good start against Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk and Leung Cun Yan in the pre-quarterfinal stage. The Indian duo lost 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11.

The men’s singles events will see Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty and Anthony Amalraj in action tomorrow.

A TTFI Press release

Mouma, Shamini and Ankita in third round

Busan, July 4, 2013: India’s national champion K. Shamini, veteran Mouma Das and Ankita Das all moved into the third round of the women’s singles from their respective quarters, while Neha Aggarwal and Madhurika Patkar made their exit at the Asian Championships here this evening.

On a day which saw three women paddlers making progress, two were standout performances and the most talked about being the one between Mouma Das and Singapore’s Singapore’s Isabelle Siun Li whom the Indian beat 4-3 in 75 minutes, the longest so far in the championships.

Mouma eventually overcame the Singaporean in a contest that went the full distance with the minimal two-point margin sealing the issue in seventh game. Mouma won 11-6, 11-5, 13-11, 7-11, 17-19, 9-11, 11-9. Mouma will take on Japanese Ishikawa Kasumi in the next round.

In a long hard-fought duel Mouma had to strain every bone of her to penetrate the defensive artistry of Isabelle. Mouma, who took the first three games rather easily, was made to work for her points as she made mistakes on her backhand. “She changed her game plan and I was lured into it,” she admitted. “I played a forehand top spin and then followed it up with a push. Coach Bhawani (Mukherjee) Sir asked to attack and it paid dividends,” added Mouma.

For Akita Das, it was equally a tough ask against Vienamese Mai Hoang My Trang who stretched the Indian almost the full distance before Indian clinching the match 4-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9) in her favour. Ankita said her rhythm was going well today and that reflected in her attacking game. “I often had to mix it up, but I was sure I could bet my opponent,” said Ankita.  The Siliguri girl next runs into Korean Mang Haeun.

As for Shamini, she had the best of outings as she complted her second-round demolition of Iranian Omrani Mahjobeh in less than half an hour for a 4-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6) victory. ). Shamini will play Chinese Ding Ning in the next round.

 But Neha Aggarwal lost her first-round match to Korean Cho Hala 1-4 (8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 4-11) while Madhurika Patkar made her exit in the secound round losing to Chinese Liu Shiwen 5-11, 9-11, 3-11, 4-11. Earlier she had beaten Taipei’s Huang Hsin 4-2 (11-4, 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6).

In men’s doubles the pair of Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai lost to Ma Long and Xu Xin 2-3 in the second round, while the other Indian duo of Sharath Kamal and Sanil Shetty entered the third round after they got a walkover from the Iranian pair of Teharkhani Hamidreza and Mohammad Akhlaghpasand. They will meet Hong Kong’s Cheung Yuk and Leung Chu Yan in the next round.

As for the men’s singles fare, Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Soumyajit Ghosh, Sanil Shetty and Harmeet Desai all are slated to play their matches later tonight.

A TTFI Press release

Indian men finish seventh, women eighth

 Busan, July 3, 2013:  Achanta Sharath Kamal, India’s top-ranked paddler in the world, led from the front as he helped the country beat Iran 3-1 to finish seventh in the men’s team event at the Asian Championships here on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Indian women paddlers had finished eighth, behind Malaysia. While our women had ended their campaign as runners-up in the first division of the team event, the men paddlers emerged as the champion team, qualifying to play for the 7-8 positions.

In the playoff match between India and Iran, Sharath Kamal paved the way for India finishing ahead of them with an excellent win over 44th ranked opponent Noshad.

Alamiyan. Though the 30-year-old Indian surged ahead with a 2-0 lead, it must be said to the credit of the Iranian who staged a fine comeback to take the match to the deciding fifth game. Sharath Kamal, however, held his nerve to win the game and match, clinching it 11-5 11-9 7-11 2-11 11-7.

In fact, it was Sharath Kamal who had given India a superb start, despite losing the first game, by beating Nima Alamian, who is ranked at 282 in the world. Sharath won 8-11 12-10 11-9 11-9. 

However, Soumyajit Ghosh failed to match his opponent’s defensive game plan in the second match against Alamiyan and went down 7-11 6-11 9-11 much quickly.  But Anthony Amalraj made amends for Ghosh’s loss with a 9-11 11-7 11-7 10-12 11-5 win over 301 ranked Mohammadreza Akhlaghpasand in a see-saw five-setter.

Sharath Kamal came for a special praise from coach Bhawani Mukhrjee who said the ace Indian paddler was back in his groove. “Sharath played really well. His fore hand topspin was working well for him. He varied his speed well. His back block also work for him,” said the coach.

He also praised Amalraj but admitted that the Indian had put himself in a spot of bother against Akhlaghpasand before overcoming them.  “Overall, I would say, we have done our best because all top Asian nations are participating in the championships. Our target was to play in the champion division and our men and women achieved that. This performance has made us eligible for the Incheon Asian Games as per government guidelines," he said.

Meanwhile in the mixed doubles, the pair of Ghosh and Mouma Das, who had beaten Mongolian pair of Lkhagvasuren Enkhbat and Byamba Erdenesuvd 3-0, lost in the pre-quarters to Gao Ning and Yu Mengyu of Singapore 10-12 2-11 7-11.      The other Indian pair of Sharath Kamal and Neha Aggarwal too lost in the second round to Chih-Yuan Chuang and Yi-Hua Huang of Chinese Taipei 7-11 8-11 10-12.

A TTFI Press release

Indian women finish runners-up in first division

Busan, July 3, 2013:  Indian women’s team secured runners-up position in the first division of the team championships after they went down to Malaysia 1-3 at the Asian Table Tennis Championships at Busan on Tuesday evening.

It was a tough outing for the women paddlers against seasoned Malaysians as the Indian team, comprising Mouma Das, K. Shamini, Neha Aggarwal, did not have an easy start. After Mouma lost to NG Sock Khim 4-11, 10-12, 4-11, Shamini could not match the guile of Beh Lee Wei who accounted for the national champion 11-7, 11-6, 11-5. But Neha gave a semblance of hope when she defeated Ting Hie Phim in straight games of 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 as the Delhi girl put up a brave front against the Malaysian.

It was left to Shamini to up the ante but the Indian went down yet again to Khim, but not before taking a game off the Malaysian. The latter won 11-7, 13-15, 11-6, 11-6. Thus the Indians finished eighth in the team championships with the title going to the rampaging Chinese, who beat Hong Kong 3-0.

Earlier, the Indian women topped group G, accounting for Nepal 3-0, beat Iran 3-0 in round three to enter stage II of the championships. There they defeated Thailand 3-0 to enter the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they ran into the eventual winner China and lost 0-3 with Mouma Das exceptionally doing well by stretching Liu Shiwen to four games.

In 5-8 positional matches, the Indians lost to Chinese Taipei 0-3 and Neha Aggarwal yet again showing her fighting qualities. She just about managed to stretch her Taipei rival Lee I-Chen to four games but the Indians collectively could not put it across the Taipei’s better-ranked girls.

This brought them face to face with Malaysia but on the night the latter proved too powerful. Coach Bhawani Mukherjee did admit the Indian girls had miles to go but he was not all that upset about the result. “I agree their opponents were too superior, but finishing among the top eight Asian teams was a good sign. Neha and Mouma played exceptionally well. I am satisfied with their preparation,” he said.

Press release