Indore, September 29: It was resurrection time for Harmeet Desai as the PSPB paddler defeated team mate Subhajit Saha 4-0 to lift the men’s singles trophy in the 11Even Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Abhay Prashal here today. National champion Manika Batra dethroned Madhurika Patkar to win the women’s singles 4-3.
The title-winning effort for the man from Gujarat has come after almost a year when he claimed the East Zone crown at Guwahati last season. Harmeet made most of the absence of country’s top four of paddlers and exploited it to the hilt in the final when veteran Saha was found wanting. Saha, who played brilliantly to beat Jubin Kumar 4-2 in the semifinal and who disposed of top-seed Sanil Shetty last evening, was out of sorts making the final a mere formality for the Gujarat lad, who had accounted for Delhi’s Utkarsh Gupta 4-2 in the semifinal.
The Manika-Madhuri final was a real thriller with Madhurika having an upper hand at the end of the third game as she led 2-1. But Manika bounced back by the next to level score. But this win did not restore Manika’s confidence any bit as she lost the fifth game rather badly before winning a game of fluctuating fortunes to level after a deuce. With the issue coming to the final game, it was anybody’s match.
But Manika ran away with a good lead in and sustained it throughout, not allowing Madhurika any leeway. In fact, Manika stroked well with her backhand and some brilliant execution of forehands completely kept Madhurika out of reach.
This was Manika’s first title this season as she had failed to impress both at Chandigarh and at Jaipur in the Institutional Championships, the two events she participated before leaving for Rio Olympics. Madhurika, on the other hand, had lifted the winner’s trophy in the North Zone championships.
Earlier, Manika defeated Divya Deshpande 4-1 while Madhurika downed Reeth Rishya 4-2 in the semifinals. Madhurika struggled against Reeth before overcoming Reeth who was nothing but patchy. But Manika had controlled her match well against Divya Deshpande who just managed to take a game off her PSPB rival.
Manav double
Manav Thakkar yet again managed a double when he blanked out West Bengal’s Ronit Bhanja in the Youth Boys final, while in Youth Girls Archana Kamath of AAI humbled Rajasthan’s Priyanka Pareek, who was the Junior Girls champion at Chandigarh. Both scored 4-0 wins, making the finals completely a one-sided affair.
For both Manav and Archana, it was a back-to-back title as they had claimed the crowns in the last national ranking event, North Zone, at Chandigarh in June.
For Manav and Archana, the semifinals were a routine affair but Archana had to produce a brilliant comeback win over Tamil Nadu’s Harshavardini in the quarterfinals, after being down and out at 0-3. The blame must go to the TN girl who, squandered all advantages in all the four games, including four match-points in the decider, to let Archana off the hook.
RESULTS:
Men’s Singles: Final: Harmeet Deasai (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 11-9, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9; Semi-finals: Subhajit Saha bt Jubin Kumar (PSPB) 5-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, Harmeet Desai bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 11-3, 8-11, 12-14,11-6, 11-3, 13-11.
Women’s Singles: Final: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-6, 8-11, 5-11,11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8; Semifinals: Manika Batra bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, Madhurika Patkar bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 9-11-11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8.
Youth Boys Singles: Final: Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja (AAI) 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5; Semifinals: Manav Thakkar bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 11-6, 3-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9, Ronit Bhanja bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 11-5, 5-11, 12-14, 13-11, 11-8, 11-4.
Youth Girls Singles: Final: Archana Kamath Girish (AAI) bt Priyanka Pareek (Raj) 11-7, 13-11, 11-3, 11-7; Semifinals: Archana Kamath bt Sagarika Mukherjee (RSPB) 11-9, 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, Priyanka Pareek bt Sreeja Akula (AAI) 7-11,4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7.
