Raman, Mouma claims Natl TT crowns

RAJKOT, AUG 14: S Raman of IOC and Mouma Das of PSCB convincingly won the men's and women's titles respectively in the National Ranking Ta...

RAJKOT, AUG 14: S Raman of IOC and Mouma Das of PSCB convincingly won the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the National Ranking Table Tennis Championship (West) at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation’s Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

Raman took his time to warm up to the contest, by which time he had lost the first game of the finals 12-21 to Arup Basak, who won the semi-finals against Shivaji Dutta in the morning. But his coolness was a measure of his confidence, coming back in the second game in full flow to pulverise the third seed 21-7.

In the third game too it was the left-hander all the way after he established an initial lead of 5-2, winning 21-15. Basak, now 1-2 down, gave his everything in the fourth, snatching a lead of 4-2, but Raman equalled at 4-4 and maintained a narrow lead till Basak pulled alongside at 17. The score levelled again at 19 and the game went into deuce.

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At the crucial stage, Basak hit into the net and again lost the next point, and the match, when he failed to reach a shot down the line.

The women’s final was a one-sided affair, except briefly in the second game when MS Mythili, having lost the first 12-21 against the diminutive top seed Mouma Das, began aggressively, taking a 9-3 lead. Mouma, who attacked so aggressively in the first game that it left Mythili often just rooted to the ground, went on the defensive when she was paid back in the same coin. But after she drew parity at 15, she again went into the offensive mode and won 21-18.

The third game was again a one-sided affair which the 16-year-old Mouma, still eligible to play in juniors but does not, defeated the twice National Champion 21-14.

Earlier, unseeded Mallika Parikh of Railways who bulldozed her way into the semi-finals, proved to be no match for top seed Mouma Das. But she showed glimpses of the promise she displayed in abundance against Montu Ghosh and NR Indu by winning the first game of the semi-final 21-19. That was the last game she won as Mouma Das rallied back brilliantly to sweep the following three games 21-13, 21-14, 21-14.

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Seventh seed Mythili was stretched the full distance in the semi-finals against second seed Poulomi Ghatak, but upset her 3-2.

RESULTS: Men’s singles (final): S Raman (IOC) bt Arup Basak (PSCB) 12-21, 21-7, 21-15, 22-20. Semi-finals: S Raman bt Soumyadeep Roy (PSCB-A) 21-14, 21-7, 19-21, 21-11; Arup Basak bt Shivaji Dutta (Rly) 21-17, 11-21, 21-12, 21-15. Quarter-finals: S Raman bt Saurav Chakraborty (BNG) 21-14, 14-21, 21-15, 21-11; Soumyadeep Roy bt Bhushan Thakur (Rly) 21-16, 15-21, 21-16, 17-21, 21-12; Arup Basak bt Arjun Dutta (PSCB) 21-15, 17-21, 10-21, 21-16, 21-17; Shivaji Dutta bt Subhajit Saha (PSCB) 21-17, 21-15, 23-21.

Women’s singles (final): Mouma Das (PSCB) bt MS Mythili (PSCB). Semi-finals:

Mouma Das bt Mallika Parikh (Rly) 19-21, 21-13, 21-14, 21-14; MS Mythili bt Poulomi Ghatak (PSCB) 15-21, 21-18, 14-21, 21-15, 21-15.