Showing glimpses of his class, Sharath Kamal stopped a resurgent Soumyajit Ghosh to win the UTT National-ranking table tennis title on Thursday.
In the presence of Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Sharath changed gears at will during his 6-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6 victory over a fellow former National champion.
In the women’s title-match, featuring two first-time finalists, Prapti Sen fought back thrice from deficit to overcome her good friend Swastika Ghosh 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 15-13 at Punchkula’s Devi Lal Stadium.
Though the men’s title-clash went the distance, Sharath never looked in serious danger of losing even after Soumyajit battled back from 1-3 to draw level.
After Soumyajit won the sixth set after being 0-5 down, it was Sharath who moved from 0-2 to 8-2 in the decider to ensure there was no more drama.
“I was surprised by the sharpness of some of Ghosh’s shots,” acknowledged Sharath as he looked back at the final.
Good workout
“This was good practice for me ahead of the events in Tunisia and Slovenia. Must admit, I have not been in great mind-space after what transpired following the Tokyo Games. But I surprised myself with the way I dealt with the challenges here.”
Sharath’s first ranking title since the 2016 South Zone event at Visakhapatnam fetched him ₹84,000. Soumyajit, who said he was playing at almost 90% of his form of early 2018, gained ₹42,000. Prapti was richer by ₹72,000 and Swastika collected ₹36,000.
The results:Men: Final: Sharath Kamal bt Soumyajit Ghosh 6-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6.
Semifinals: Sharath bt Harmeet Desai 11-8, 8-11, 4-11; 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 12-10; Soumyajit bt Manav Thakkar 14-16, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11, 6-11, 9-11, 14-12.
Women: Final: Prapti Sen bt Swastika Ghosh 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 15-13;
Semifinals: Prapti bt Takeme Sarkar 15-13, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10; Swastika bt Anusha Kutumbale 11-9, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 .
