The Hindu : Sport : Sharath guides India to gold

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2006

Sport

Sport

Sharath guides India to gold

S.R. Suryanarayan

India prevails over Sri Lanka in the final

PHOTO: AP

THE GLITTER OF GOLD: The Indian paddlers warded off a stiff challenge from Sri Lanka to win the gold.

COLOMBO: In colourful bandanas, blue for one match and orange for another, Sharath Kamal could be making a fashion statement.

And if the partisan crowd thought he could be cowed down by noise, then the lanky and sprightly young man proved them wrong. He showed his class, guiding India past Sri Lanka to the men's table tennis team gold at the South Asian Games here on Monday.

The `crowd factor' in the small hall at the St. Thomas College nearly did the Indian women's team in against the host on Sunday night, the girls making it by the skin of their teeth. On Monday it was the turn of Soumyadeep Roy. He looked a bundle of nerves against Sri Lanka's No.1 Thilina Piyadasa. Piyadasa psyched the Indian no end and the crowd did the rest to put the host one up.

Soumyadeep could not believe some of the unforced errors he committed, be it close to the table or away. It was left to Sharath to restore sanity in the Indian ranks and bring back the self-belief. It was a case of one team struggling to perform on par and the other going beyond its known class.

Tossed serves

The tossed serves and the high swinging smashes on the flanks stunned both Rohan Sirisena and the gathering. Sharath, the Commonwealth gold medallist, swept aside the Lankan's challenge with some delectable smashes, and the backhanded one was breathtaking.

National champion Subhajit Saha looked tense initially against Tharindu Samaraweera and even lost a game, but kept his focus despite all the cacophony to put India ahead. Sharath came in next to tame the Lankan hero Thilina Piyadasa. Sharath lost a few points, saw Piyadasa do the acrobatics, but the Indian kept a tight control overall. When it came to finishing the big points, the Indian showed his coolness and mettle. Nepal and Pakistan won the bronze.

The results: Final: India bt Sri Lanka 3-1 (Soumyadeep Roy lost to Thilina Piyadasa 6-11, 12-10 6-11, 5-11; A. Sharath Kamal bt Rohan Sirisena 11-7, 11-6, 11-8; Subhajit Saha bt Tharindu Samaraweera 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3; Sharath Kamal bt Thilina Piyadasa 11-8, 11-8, 11-7).

Semifinals: India bt Pakistan 3-0 (Subhajit Saha bt Md. Asim Qureshi 6-11, 11-3, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7; Sharath Kamal bt Syed Saleem Abbas Kazmi 11-4, 11-7, 11-8; Ranbir Das bt Sajjad Faisal Ali 11-4, 13-11, 7-11, 11-4; Sri Lanka bt Nepal 3-0.

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