Date:10/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/10/stories/2009011059591900.htm

Sport - Table Tennis

Raman outlasts Rajdeep

Amitabha Das Sharma

PATNA: Two senior players created a flutter by downing much higher ranked opponents in the opening round of the men’s singles main draw in the 70th National table tennis championships here on Friday.

Former champion S. Raman sailed into the second round with a great show of character while Rajiv Ghai of Haryana upstaged last edition’s semifinalist Sayan Paul Roy.

All the eight men’s seeds, including reigning champion and top seed Sharath Kamal, progressed with easy wins. In the women’s section, the top-16 players in the National rankings were given first round byes.

Important results: Men’s singles: First round: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sameer Sahni (Del) 11-2, 11-1,13-11,11-5; Karthik C.P. (Kar) bt Omkar Torgalkar (Mah ‘A’) 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-9; Ranabir Das (WB) bt Zabarjeet Singh (U.P.) 10-12, 11-6, 11-1, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9; R. Abhishek (TN) bt C.K. Oza (Postal) 11-5, 11-3, 11-1, 11-9; Rajiv Ghai (Har) bt Sayan Paul Roy (Rlys) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8; S. Raman (PSPB) bt Rajdeep Sarkar (NB)10-12, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 16-14; Aniket Koparkar (Mah ‘A’) bt Jayanta Chandra (OFSCB) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4; G. Sathiyan (TN) bt Gurpreet Singh (Raj) 11-4, 11-5, 11-7, 11-6; Zubin Kumar (PSPB) bt Vaneet Chopra (Pun) 11-7, 11-8, 11-3, 11-4; Raj Mondal (NB) bt Eric Fernandes (Mah ‘B’) 11-7, 11-4,11-9, 4-11, 11-7; Sourav Chakraborty (Rly) bt Ashish Dhuklan (FCI) 11-8, 11-2, 11-4, 11-3; 3-A. Amal Raj (PSPB) bt Tarun Verma (Raj) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3; Hardik Bhatt (Guj) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (NB) 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 12-10.

Women’s singles: First round: Nargis Malubhai (Guj) bt Sayantika Kundu (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9; Janhavi Deshpande (Mah ‘B’) bt Parekh P.J. (Post) 14-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5; Kritika Sinha Roy (WB) bt N. Vidhya (TN) 11-2, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8; Mousumi Paul (WB) bt Nikita Routela (Del) 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10; N. Arul Selvi (TN) bt K. Bhavna (AP) 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4; Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah ‘B’) bt Sita Verma (UP) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, 11-8; K. Swetha Kumaravel (TN) bt Priti Mokashi (Mah ‘B’) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7; Ankita Das (NB) bt L. Sumila Devi (U.P.) 12-10, 11-2, 11-9, 11-7; U.V. Agni (DB) bt Rani Chandrima Jain (RBI) 11-3, 11-5, 11-2, 11-2; Shalmali Mhatre (Mah ‘A’) bt Tulika Roy (WB) 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7.