Jodhpur: Soumyajit Ghosh, fresh from his Sweden training camp, celebrated his arrival by bagging both the Men’s singles and Youth Boys singles title at the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships here at the Gaushala Indoor Hall on Friday.
Ghosh first won the Youth Boys title beating his long-time India teammate and rival Harmeet Desai 4-1 and after an hour downed a fighting Sanil Shetty 4-3 to make it a memorable double here. The women’s singles crown went to K. Shamini, who defeated Delhi’s Manika Batra in what turned out to be a one-sided final. Shamini won 4-1.
Earlier the Youth Girls title went to Ankita Das, who downed Krittiwika Sinha Roy from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) 4-1 in yet another one-way final.
What was remarkable on the day was Ghosh’s excellent resilience he showed on the court every time he was trailing behind with the fortunes swinging from one extreme to another. The left-handed Sanil Shetty began on a right note winning the first game to set the tone. However, he could not sustain the pace and it was who Ghosh turned the table on his rival.
Employing both forehand pushes and displaying a well-coordinated backhand smashes Ghosh slowly but surely gained the upper hand over his opponent. It was not that Shetty was not trying, but at crucial times, he made several unforced errors like he did in the sixth game when he allowed four points on the trot to Ghosh to level the score at 3-3. Having equaled the score, Ghosh went for the kill in the decider and brooked very little challenge initially. But at 9-9, Shetty had his chance but failed miserably at the net to allow a one-point lead to Ghosh.
The Siliguri boy just seized the opportunity and without hesitation put it across to take the game and the match.
As for the women’s final, things did not go Manika’s way even though she won the first game to give some kind of a jolt to her PSPB rival. But the two-time national champion and the recent South Zone women’s winner was up to her task as in the next four games she did not allow any liberty to the Delhi girl and won the second successive time.
Ankita Das, too, began on a wrong note losing the first game to Krittiwika Sinha. But the more experienced junior girl from Siliguri showed her class in executing excellent strokes with aggressive intent. And, in the final analysis, it paid her rich dividends.
Results:
Men: Final: Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 9-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6; Semifinals: Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 10-12, 11-7, 1109, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7, Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-8, 11-7, 14-12, 9-11, 4-11, 11-5.
Women: Final: K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Manika Batra (Del) 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4; Semifinals: Manika Batra Del) bt Soumi Mandal (PSPB) 10-12, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9.
Youth Boys: Final: Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6; Semifinals: Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt G.Sathiyan (PSPB) 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5, 16-14, Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt T. Nitin (AAI) 11-9, 1107, 11-4, 11-9.
Youth Girls: Final: Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7; Semifinals: Krittwika Sinha Roy (AAI) Yukti Roshini (TN) 11-9, 80-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 11-8, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.
