Hyderabad: 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 Rs 2.5 lakh for his fantastic efforts, while Haryana’s Sutirtha Mukherjee claimed her second National crown-she won her first at Ranchi in 2017-and Rs 1.65 lakh in prize money. In the process, she also bagged three golds, 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. Indeed, that was true to a large extent but it was his calm and composure in the seventh that helped him win the crown.
Haryana made their presence felt as their paddlers won both gold medals in men and women doubles before closely losing the third gold in mixed event.
After Jubin Kumar and Soumyajit Ghosh combined well to beat Gujarat’s Manush Shah and Ishaan Hingorani 3-1 in the men’s doubles, it was the turn of Sutirtha and Riti Shankan to beat Bengal ‘A’ duo of Surbhi Patwari and Poymantee Baisya in the women’s doubles. Later, Sutirtha and Sourav Saha settled for silver in a tough mixed doubles, losing 1-3 to Bengal’s Ronit Bhanja and Mousumi Paul.
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, 11-5. 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, 8-11, 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 (Bengal ‘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 (Bengal ‘A’) bt Sourav Saha/ Sutirtha Mukherjee (Haryana) 15-13, 8-11, 12-10, 13-11.
