The Hindu : Sport : Poulomi reclaims title; Sharath Kamal’s reign continues

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Poulomi reclaims title; Sharath Kamal’s reign continues

Amitabha Das Sharma

— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Poulomi Ghatak and A. Sharath Kamal of PSPB proudly display their trophies they won at Guwahati on Tuesday.

Guwahati: Achanta Sharath Kamal trounced Sourav Chakraborty in a straightforward final to retain the men’s crown for the fourth straight season in the 71st senior National and inter-State table tennis tournament here on Tuesday. This was Sharath Kamal’s fifth National title.

In the women’s final Poulomi Ghatak dethroned holder Shamini Kumaresan in a hard-fought final for her sixth National title.

The success of Sharath Kamal and Poulomi also emphasised the dominance of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, which swept all the titles on offer, save one, in the individual section.

Petroleum had previously won both the team events.

The only title that eluded Petroleum was the men’s doubles, which went to the West Bengal combination of Anirban Nandi and Sourav Chakraborty.

Workmanlike fashion

Sharath Kamal went about in a workmanlike fashion demolishing the challenge of Sourav Chakraborty, who was playing his third final and his second meeting with the former in the title round.

Sourav, having won the men’s doubles previously, was unable to counter the sharpness and power of Sharath Kamal. The course of the encounter became clear in the first game itself when top seed Sharath Kamal came out firing strong returns on both sides of the table.

The game ended in barely three minutes with Sourav managing just three points.

Sourav looked drained out after his marathon semifinal against A. Amalraj.

The second game was well contested but Sharath Kamal won the last four points on the tort to establish a 2-0 lead. Sourav fired some fine winners to win the third game for a 1-2 scoreline before Sharath came back strongly in the next two games.

“Retaining the National title definitely gives me a great feeling. I hope this title helps me better my international ranking before the Commonwealth Games,” Sharath Kamal said.

Clash of generations

The women’s final, a clash of two generations, went the distance. Poulomi, using all her experience, excelled with flashes of brilliance against her younger opponent.

Shamini’s chances of defending the title started dwindling with her erratic form even as her senior opponent started gaining in confidence.

Producing a series of winners with her strong forehand returns, Poulomi established a 3-2 lead before Shamini made a late fightback to square the game scores.

The final game was evenly fought but Poulomi won two long rallies to ensure two match points, which she converted easily to ensure her sixth title, which is two short of the record eight titles won by Indu Puri, who incidentally is here as one of the Government of India appointed observers.

The results (all finals):

Men: A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sourav Chakraborty (PSPB) 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9; Doubles: Sourav Chakraborty & Anirban Nandi (WB) bt Soumyadeep Roy & Zubin Kumar (PSPB) 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 11-2.

Women: Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt K. Shamini (PSPB) 6-11, 11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9; Doubles: Madhurika Patkar & K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe & Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6.

Mixed doubles: Subhajit Saha & Nandita Saha (PSPB) bt Sourav Chakraborty & Mouma Das (WB) 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7.

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