The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : PSPB dominance continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 24, 2006

Sport

Sport - Table Tennis

PSPB dominance continues

K. Keerthivasan

JAIPUR: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) retained the men's and women's titles in the Oil India 67th Senior National and Inter-State table tennis championships at the Sawai Maan Singh Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

The men encountered stiff resistance in each of the four matches against an inspired Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), before pulling off a 3-1 win. North Bengal offered little resistance to PSPB women losing 3-0.

For the PSPB men, it's the fourth title in a row and 12th win (Barna Bellack Cup), while the women have been winning the Jayalakshmi Cup since the 1999 Lucknow Nationals (eighth title and 13th overall).

Perhaps, expecting an easy (3-0) win, PSPB took a gamble. Preferring to send its top player Sharath Kamal in the first match, PSPB's intention was clear — "We'll close out the match without much fuss."

Amalraj impresses

After Sharath had produced a calm and composed win over Saurav Chakraborty in the first tie, Amalraj took centre-stage in the second. The 19-year-old from Chennai, representing RSPB for the first time, couldn't have found a better platform to showcase his potential.

Blocking wonderfully well, and attacking without any inhibition, Amalraj put it across the No. 2 ranked Soumyadeep Roy in what was the best match of the finals.

In the third tie, Subhajit Saha fought back from the brink to give PSPB the much-needed 2-1 lead. Trailing by a game and down a match point in the fourth, Subhajit played out of his skin to defeat Anirban Nandi.

Given his current form, Saurav Chakraborty fancied his chances against Soumyadeep Roy in the fourth match. One of the bright young players among the present lot, Saurav displayed fine control and anticipation. A late starter, Soumyadeep, however, asserted himself in the fifth game to give PSPB the title.

"We didn't expect RSPB to play so well. We anticipated a 3-0 win," said Sharath and Soumyadeep.

In the women's final, barring the first match between PSPB's Mouma Das and Nandita Saha, which was close, the rest two were pretty one-sided.

The main draw of the individual events starts on Friday.

Yoonus Khan, Sports and Transport Minister, the chief guest, gave away the prizes.

The results:

Men: Final: PSPB bt RSPB 3-1 (A. Sharath Kamal bt Saurav Chakraborty 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8; Soumyadeep Roy lost to A. Amal Raj 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 4-11; Subhajit Saha bt Anirban Nandi 12-10, 6-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-6; Soumyadeep Roy bt Saurav Chakraborty 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 2-11, 11-7.

Third place (losing semifinalsits): Maharashtra `A' and Gujarat.

Women: Final: PSPB bt North Bengal 3-0 (Mouma Das bt Nandita Saha 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 13-11, 12-10; Poulomi Ghatak bt Sumana Bose 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3; K. Shamini bt Kasturi Chakraborty 11-8, 11-9, 11-3).

Third place: Maharashtra `B' & WB.

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