Singapore had a vice-like grip over the singles finals in the Avadh-20th Commonwealth table tennis championships that came to an end here on Monday. Chen Feng and Zhou Yihan had the measure of their Indian opponents to bag their maiden men’s and women’s titles in the championships.
Singapore took its gold tally to four, thereby topping the medal standings. India, with three gold, six silver and seven bronze medals (16 overall), finished second. This is India’s biggest haul in the history of the championships.
Zhou’s 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-2, 11-3 win over Mouma Das in the women’s final proclaimed her class.
Chen outplayed Amalraj 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-7. Amalraj proved his mettle in games three and four, matching Chen both from close to and back of the table.
The crucial fifth game saw scores going neck and neck. Having a game point at 10-9, Amalraj dumped a forehand into the net to lose the game and the momentum.
The results: Men: Final: Chen Feng (Sin) bt A. Amalraj 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-7. Semifinals: Chen bt Soumyajit Ghosh 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9; Amalraj bt Sanil Shetty 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-7. Doubles: Final: Soumyajit & Harmeet Desai bt G. Sathiyan & Devesh Karia 5-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3.
Women: Final: Zhou Yihan (Sin) bt Mouma Das 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-2, 11-3. Semifinals: Zhou (Sin) bt Manika Batra 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5; Mouma bt Lin Ye (Sin) 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 1-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7. Doubles: Final: Lin Ye & Zhou Yihan bt Manika & Ankita Das 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.
Medal list: Men: Team: 1. India, 2. England, 3. Singapore. Doubles: 1. Soumyajit Ghosh & Harmeet Desai, 2. G. Sathiyan & Devesh Karia, 3. Sudhanshu Grover & Abhishek Yadav & Amalraj & Sanil Shetty. Men: 1. Chen Feng, 2. Amalraj, 3. Sanil Shetty & Soumyajit Ghosh.
Women: Team: 1. Singapore, 2. India, 3. England. Doubles: 1. Lin Ye & Zhou Yihan, 2. Manika Batra & Ankita Das, 3. Mouma Das & K. Shamini & Koh Kai Xin Pearlyn; Mixed doubles: 1. G. Sathiyan & Ankita Das, 2. Soumyajit Ghosh & Mouma Das, 3. Li Hu & Zhou Yihan & Sanil Shetty & Manika Batra; Women’s singles: 1. Zhou Yihan, 2. Mouma Das, 3. Manika Batra & Lin Ye.
