Sport - Table Tennis

Railways men, PSCB women take titles
By Ritesh Gupta

NEW DELHI, FEB. 27. Seventen-year-old Sourav Chakraborty, playing in only his first final, powered the Railways to a stunning 3-2 victory over eight-time champion Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSCB) in the men's final of the 63rd National and inter-State table tennis championships at the NDMC Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.

Chakraborty won both his matches as the Railways repeated its Kolkata inter-institutional feat of beating PSCB for the title.

Earlier, Mouma Das got over a bout of nerves at a crucial stage to guide the PSCB women's team to the title with a 3-1 victory over the Railways.

The 18-year-old Mouma managed two wins, including the decisive one of 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 13-15, 11-8 over Anandita Chakraborty in the fourth match. Mouma messed up eight championship points, including six in the fourth game as Anandita gave PSCB the jitters. But Mouma overcame a spell of nerves and an early lead in the decider enabled her to pull it off without further alarms.

Mouma's performance enabled PSCB to claim its third successive title and its ninth overall. With this win, PSCB also avenged its loss to the same side in the final of the inter- institutional championship, held in Kolkata last year.

Mouma's other win came in the opening match in which she got past Nandita Saha 6- 11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6.

The lead was stretched by N.R. Indu as she beat Anandita 11-7, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9. Railways raised hopes of a comeback when Sushmita Roy defeated M.S. Mythili in straight games.

Mouma, who thrives on chops and flat drives, took time in settling down against Nandita. The Railways girl benefited from Mouma's errors and surged ahead winning 11-6. Mouma won four successive points in the second game to take a 9-5 lead before restoring parity. Thereafter, Mouma succeeded in controlling the rallies and forced errors from her rival. Mouma, who never trailed in the next two games, executed fine drives to gain the lead for her side. Indu was hardly tested in the first two games against Anandita. The Chennai-based Indu, who has won four titles this season, was set for a comfortable win as she led 10-9 in the third game.

Anandita, who was denied any pace by Indu, staved off two match points to frustrate her opponent. Two forehand drives by Anandita got her back into the match as she reduced the deficit. But Indu overcame the hiccup to place PSCB in a strong position.

PSCB's move to play Mythili, in place of reigning National champion Poulomi Ghatak, backfired as she lost tamely to Sushmita.

The results: Men: Final: Railways bt PSCB 3-2 (Sourav Chakraborty bt Soumyadeep Roy 11-8, 11-7, 10-12, 14-12; Ranabir Das lost to S. Raman 2-11, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11; A. Sharath Kamal lost to Arup Basak 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 12-14; Ranabir Das bt Soumyadeep Roy 11-4, 11-7, 15-13; Sourav Chakraborty bt S. Raman 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 7-11, 11-3).

Semifinals: PSCB bt Bengal 3-0 (S. Raman bt Arjun Datta 13-15, 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8; Soumyadeep Roy bt Amit Das 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 15-13; Arup Basak bt Prithiraj Bose 11-8, 11-5, 10-12, 11-2).

Railways bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Sourav Chakraborty bt R. Rajesh 11-6, 11-5, 11-6; Ranabir Das bt K. Srivatsa Chakraborty 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7; A. Sharath Kamal bt S. Raja 11-1, 11-9, 11-6).

Women: Final: PSCB bt Railways 3-1 (Mouma Das bt Nandita Saha 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6; N.R. Indu bt Anandita Chakraborty 11-7, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9; M.S. Mythili lost to Sushmita Roy 9-11, 9-11, 7-11; Mouma bt Anandita 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 13-15, 11-8).

Semifinals: PSCB bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Poulomi Ghatak bt B. Bhuvaneshwari 11-5, 11-6, 11-9; Mouma Das bt T. Pradeepa 11-6, 11-8, 11-6; Montu Ghosh lost to N. Arul Selvi 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12; Poulomi bt T. Pradeepa 11-6, 11-5, 11-8).

Railways bt Maharashtra `B' 3-0 (Nandita Saha bt Shruti Gokhale 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Anandita Chakraborty bt Kshipra Gogate 11-7, 11-7, 11-8; Sushmita Roy bt Shradha Shastri 11-7, 11-5, 11-9).

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