Patna: Youngsters Sanil Shetty and Ankita Das were crowned men's and women's singles champion respectively at the 75th Senior National Table Tennis Championships here today.
No. 2 seed Shetty defeated his PSPB team mate Harmeet Desai 4-2 and No. 4 Ankita Das, also of PSPB, drubbed AAI's Krittwika Sinha Roy 4-0 to take home the winners' purse of Rs 2.30 lakh and Rs 1.45 lakh, respectively.
Incidentally, Shetty is the first national champion to emerge from Mumbai after the great Kamlesh Mehta, who last won the title in 1995.
The men's singles had all the ingredients befitting the final, unlike the women's final which never rose to any dizzy heights.
The left-handed Shetty proved too hot for Desai who, in the morning, had upset all calculations to account for Achanta Sharath Kamal at the Patliputra Sports Complex here.
Desai, however, failed to raise his game in the final and his game lacked aggression.
In fact, Shetty was on a rampage right from the start which allowed little leeway to Desai. In a way, the latter was astounded by Shetty's attack on both flanks, more so on his opponent's faulty forehand.
It paid rich dividends as Shetty reeled off winners after winners to unsettle his rival. For a brief period, though, Desai tried to come back but once Shetty ran up a 7-3 lead and 10-5, it was all over for Desai.
As for Ankita, she hardly broke a sweat against Krittwika and it reflected in the score line against her AAI opponent in the women's final.
Krittwika was found wanting on many fronts and Ankita just exploited them to her advantage.
