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Soumyadeep, Mouma reign supreme

By Our Special Correspondent

DURGAPUR AUG. 18. Experience of Soumyadeep Roy and youthful exuberance of Mouma Das prevailed in the men's and women's singles finals of the National ranking table tennis championship (East) at the Sidhu Kanu Indoor Stadium here on Sunday. National champions Roy and Mouma also won the first titles in the third meet of the season.

Down by two games in ten minutes against a far-improved A. Sharath Kamal of Railways in the men's singles, Roy played like a true champion to win the crown in 40 minutes. Roy won 2-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10 to take home Rs. 30,000 as prize money. Roy also retained the crown he had won last year at Kolkata.

A lot was expected from T. Pradeepa who won her maiden title at the 32nd inter-institutional championship at Delhi last week. But against Mouma today she was a bundle of error missing easy winners. Mouma's 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6 earned her Rs. 15,000 as the winner's purse.

Top-seeded boys' reigning champion Arunava Ganguly of Rajasthan, a PSCB Academy trainee, proved too good for unseeded R. Abishek of Tamil Nadu. Ganguly, son of a SAI football coach in Kolkata, took just 20 minutes to finish off the one-sided contest in 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 to win the first prize of Rs. 5,000.

In the day's lone upset, seventh-seeded Madhurika Patkar of Maharashtra defeated top-seeded Mousumi Paul of Centre of Excellence, Kolkata, in an error-filled girls' final. Madhurika won 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-2. She took home Rs. 4,000.

Blistering forehand drivers and counter attacks marked the tall and lanky Sharath Kamal's dominance in the first two games. The first game was a disaster for Roy and in the second he did fought back but failed to stop the 20-year-old Southern Railway employee from going 2-0 up.

"I changed my strategy by playing the ball short and pushing Kamal to his backhand to open up for kills on the forehand side. He had the height advantage and was quick to the ball,'' explained Roy after the game with a palpable relief on his face.

Roy recovered from 4-6 to make it 8-8 and pulled away to 8-10 in the third game. Kamal fought back with some telling cross-court shots to Roy's backhand to level at 10 all. Here the experience of Roy came handy and he forced Kamal to make unforced errors.

"The game gave me the confidence and I knew I would win the contest if I cut down on my errors,'' Roy recollected. Suddenly Kamal's play turned loose and he seemed to lapse in concentration. From 5-5, he slumped to 4-7 and 5-9 and the National champion was not in a mood to let go the chance.

Two games all and Kamal was up against a fiercely attacking opponent. Kamal fought back tooth and nail in the fifth game as the score went to 9-9. The unseeded Railway player missed an easy kill on the forehand but came back to level at 11 all. Roy profited on Kamal's loose play during crucial points to take the game.

Roy raced to 6-3 lead in the sixth before Kamal drew abreast. While Roy was consistent personified, Kamal was erratic, playing a splendid shot one moment and missing an easy return the next.

Once it was 11-10 in favour of Roy, it was all over for Kamal's dream of winning his first title. It ought to have been a shattering experience for both Kamal and his father-coach Srinivasa Rao.

The results (all finals):

Men's singles (seedings prefixed): 1-Soumyadeep Roy (PSCB) bt A. Sharath Kamal (RSPB) 2-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10.

Women's singles: 1-Mouma Das (PSCB) bt T. Pradeepa (TN) 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6.

Boys' singles: 1-Arunava Ganguly (Raj) bt R. Abishek (TN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-1.

Girls' singles: 1-Mousumi Paul (CoE) lost to 7-Madhurika Patkar (Mah) 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 2-11.

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