Harmeet, Sutirtha top players in TT
Sixth-seed Harmeet Desai defeated fourth-seed Manav Thakkar 4-3 in the men’s singles final of the UTT 81st National Table Tennis Championships to win his maiden title at the Saroonagar Indoor Stadium here today.
He had to wait seven-long years after he had reached his first final in 2013. Harmeet pocketed `2.5 lakh for his fantastic efforts, while Haryana’s Sutirtha Mukherjee claimed her second National crown-she won her first at Ranchi in 2017and `1.65 lakh in prize money. In the process, she also bagged three gold, including in the team event and women’s doubles apart from getting a silver in the mixed event.
A happy Harmeet, who trains at Axton Centre in Germany, attributed his success to the training he has received there. “Ever since I started training at the centre (in Germany) where I get to play with world’s top paddlers, I have improved in my blocks and shot selections,” he said.
Indeed, that was true to a large extent but it was his calm and composure in the seventh set that helped him win the crown. “Manav I have been travelling together and when he engages you in long rallies, more often than not he wins. And the mistakes I made in the sixth set forced me rethink and I decided to keep my cool in the decider,” he admitted.
After taking a 2-1 lead, Manav kept coming at him and levelled to take the issue to the deciding set. But in the last set, it was a different Harmeet as he slowed down the pace to
deny Manav the leverage he was looking for. When he changed end at 5-2, the writing on the wall was clear for the Surat boy as Harmeet stroked his way to the title by allowing just three more points to his state mate.
THE RESULTS
■ Men’s singles final: Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 11-4, 11-13, 14-12, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 115. Semifinals: Manav Thakkar bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 11-9, 16-14, 7-11, 15-13, 6-11, 11-9; Harmeet Desai bt Soumyajit Ghosh (Har) 11-9, 11-7, 11-4, 811, 14-12.
■ Men’s doubles final: Jubin Kumar/ Soumyajit Ghosh (Har) bt Manush Shah/ Ishaan Hingorani (Guj) 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7.
■ Women’s singles final: Sutirtha Mukherjee (Har) bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (PSPB) 11-4, 11-5, 11-8,11-4. Semifinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5; Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Ankita Das (Ben ‘B’) 11-9, 11-6, 15-13, 11-7.
■ Women’s doubles final: B. Sutirtha Mukherjee/ Riti Shankar (Har) bt Surbhi Patwari/ Poymantee Baisya (Ben A) 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8.
■ Mixed Doubles final: Ronit Bhanja/ Mousumi Paul (Ben ‘A’) bt Sourav Saha/ Sutirtha Mukherjee (Har) 15-13, 8-11, 12-10, 13-11.