Subhajit, Soumyadeep in final

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, AUG. 1. India's best and most experienced player, Chetan P. Baboor, failed to survive the quarterfinal stage of the Servo Indian Oil National ranking (East) table tennis championship at the Khudiram indoor hall here on Wednesday. The PSCB star failed to adjust to the uneven floor and lost to Ranabir Das of Railways in seven games.

Bengal State women's champion Nandita Saha continued her giant- killing spree. She eliminated fourth seed Mouma Das of PSCB en route to her maiden senior final at the National level. Nandita won in seven games. Earlier, she sent eighth seed and statemate Kasturi Chakraborty packing in the quarterfinals and shocked top seed N.R. Indu in the pre-quarters.

In Thursday's final, the men's title will be contested between top seed and favourite Soumyadeep Roy of PSCB and second seed and teammate Subhajit Saha. Both won their semifinals in contrasting style. Saha took just four games to beat Ranabir Das, Roy took time to subdue fourth seed Sibaji Dutta of PSCB in six games.

The ladies' final will be fought between Nandita and third seed M.S. Mythili of PSCB. Mythili ousted T. Pradeepa of Tamil Nadu in seven games in the last four stage.

Top seed Arunava Ganguly of PSCB Academy, Ajmer, will take on unseeded Subhadip Das of Bengal in the boys' singles final while top girls' seed Sushmita Roy of Railways will clash with second seed Moushumi Paul of Bengal in the title round.

Fourth seed Soumyajit Sarkar of Bengal won the sub- junior boys crown beating statemate Souma Nandy in the final. He won 11-6, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 while second seed Pallavi Kundu of Bengal took the girls' title with a 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 verdict against unseeded Neha Agarwal of Delhi.

Baboor, pitted in the easier bottom half, was expected to meet the top seed Roy in the men's singles final. But his first two games loss in the quarterfinals not only surprised many but himself as well. Obviously not happy with his display, Baboor blamed the experimental rule for his defeat. ``It is like playing a 20-over cricket match. It is very unpredictable,'' he said.

* The results: Men: semifinals: (1) Soumyadeep Roy (PSCB) bt (4) Sibaji Dutta (PSCB) 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 17-15, 11-7, 11-2; (2) Subhajit Saha (PSCB) bt (3) Ranabir Das (Rly) 11-7, 11-8, 11- 7, 11-6. Quarterfinals: Roy bt (8) Arjun Dutta (PSCB) 11-4, 11-1, 12-10, 5-11, 11-8; Dutta bt A. Sarath Kamal (TN) 17-15, 14-12, 19-17, 10-12, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9; Das bt (6) Chetan P. Baboor (PSCB) 11-9, 11-13, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9, 11- 7; Saha bt (7) Sourav Chakraborty (Rly) 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6. Pre- quarterfinals: Roy bt Deepak Thukral (BSCB) 11-7, 11-4, 11-8, 11- 4; Dutta bt R. Rajesh (TN) 9-11, 11- 9, 11-5, 11-1, 11-4; Sarath Kamal bt Bhusan Thakur (Rly) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 14-12, 11-9; Dutta bt Subham Chowdhury (Rly) 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4; Das bt K. Srivatsa Chakravarthy (TN) 12- 10, 2-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5; Chakraborty bt Anirban Nandy (Rly) 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6; Baboor bt Amit Mukherjee (Ben) 11- 9, 15-13, 11-8, 11-9; Saha bt Arup Basak (PSCB) 11-9, 9-11, 10- 12, 11-13, 13-11, 11-8, 11-6.

Women: semifinals: Nandita Saha (Ben) bt (4) Mouma Das (PSCB) 5- 11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9; (3) M.S. Mythili (PSCB) bt T. Pradeepa (TN) 12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 9- 11, 11-5, 8-11, 13-11. Quarterfinals: Nandita bt (8) Kasturi Chakraborty (Ben) 6-11, 11- 7, 6-11, 11-1, 11-7, 11-5; Mouma bt Sushmita Roy (Rly) 11-3, 8- 11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7; Mythili bt Moushumi Paul (Ben) 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11- 7; Pradeepa bt (2) Poulami Ghatak (PSCB) 11-9, 12-14, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8. Pre- quarterfinals: Nandita bt (1) N.R. Indu (PSCB) 11-4, 14-12, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4; Kasturi bt Vishakha Vijoy (Bih) 12-10, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4; Sushmita bt Mantu Ghosh (PSCB) 11-4, 6-11, 11-6, 10- 12, 11-6, 11-9; Mouma bt Avanti Sinha (Ben) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7, 11- 8; Moushumi bt (5) Anindita Chakraborty (Rly) 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10; Pradeepa bt Minu Basak (Ben) 11-5, 11-8, 12-10, 12- 10; Poulami bt Madhumita Chowdhury (Ben) 11-1, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4; Mythili bt Sumana Bose (Ben) 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 17-19, 11-8.

Boys, semifinals: (1) Arunava Ganguly (PSCBA) bt Soumyajit Sarkar (Ben) 11-9, 14-16, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9; Subhadip Das (Ben) bt (2) Niloy Basak (Ben) 11-8, 11-7, 11-3, 11- 6.

Sub-junior boys: final: (4) Soumyajit Sarkar (Ben) bt Souma Nandy (Ben) 11-6, 11-4, 11-3, 11-8. Semifinals: Soumyajit bt (1) Amarnath Das (Ben) 11- 3, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8; Souma bt Aniket Koparkar (Mah) 11-2, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7.

Girls, semifinals: (1) Sushmita Roy (Ben) bt Anushree Saha (Ben) 12-10, 11-9, 13-11, 11-3; (2) Moushumi Paul (Ben) bt (3) S. Sangeetha (TN) 11-5, 12-10, 11-6, 11-5.

Sub-junior girls: final: (2) Pallavi Kundu (Ben) bt Neha Agarwal (Dli) 11-5, 7-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9. Semifinals: Neha bt Triparna Biswas (Ben) 11- 6, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7; Pallavi bt Sharmishta Paul (Ben) 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 9-11, 11-7.

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