Amalraj edges Sharath in final
Arjuna awardee Anthony Amalraj celebrated a comeback victory, beating top seed Achanta Sharath Kamal 4-3 in the men singles final of the LIC-IOC all India national ranking table tennis championships (South Zone) in Dharwad on Sunday.
Amalraj looked like he was slipping away when Sharath took a commanding 3-0 lead. But the former fought well and upped the ante when it was needed as he clawed his way back slowly. All the while, a jaded Sharath was losing steam and was unable to get his shorts right. Amalraj scores at 3-3 and took the match to the decider.
Coming hard in the last game, Amalraj held two match points and then changing sides increased the lead gradually and finally winning as he stopped Sharath at mere four points.
“Sharath bhaia was playing well and I first wanted to level the score and take it on from there. Luckily, I cashed in on some of his negative give-aways. I also got my shots right at crucial junctures,” said Amalraj.
Earlier, Manika Batra hit a purple patch disposing of second seed Suthirtha Mukherjee 4-2 for her first singles crown this season.
Picking up from where she left off in the semi-final against no. 4 seed Madhurika Patkar, Manika hit the zone straightaway against Suthirtha in the final. With the blocks and forehands working wonderfully well, the West Bengal girl was put off by Manika’s game plan. Unable to find her feet initially, Suthirtha slowed the pace to bring her back on track and it did help her to some extent as she managed to take two games off her rival.
But Manika, who will be the lone Indian turning out at the Asian Cup in Ahmedabad next week, re-adjusted her game without giving up on her efforts to use the powerful backhand blocks and her trademark forehands which fetched several winners.
Later Manika admitted that playing the qualifiers had helped her acclimatise to conditions. “I was a little upset after being edged out on toss and not making it to the main draw directly. But in hindsight, playing the qualifiers helped me and I could win the first title of the season,” said the PSPB girl.
Incidentally, this crown has come her way after a year. The Delhi girl last won the national ranking title (Central Zone) at Indore.
In the youth boys final, PSPB’s Manav Thakkar eased past Lalrin Puia of Mizoram 4-0 while AAI’s Moumita Datta beat Archana Kamath of PSPB by the same margin in the girls final.
RESULTS
Men’s singles final: Anthony Amalraj PSPB) bt A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) 5-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4; Women’s singles final: Manika Batra (PSPB) Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7; Youth boys’ final: Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Lalrin Puia (Miz) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9; Youth girls’ final: Moumita Datta (AAI) bt Archana G. Kamath (PSPB) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6.
Manika Batra hit a purple patch disposing of second seed Suthirtha Mukherjee 4-2 for her first singles crown this season