SILIGURI, October 27: Anthony Amal Raj, in the best form of his live, outplayed national champion Soumyajit Ghosh 4-2 to win the men’s singles crown at the National Ranking (East Zone) Table Tennis Championships here today. Earlier, Madhurika Patkar defeated Mouma Das 4-0 to win the women’s singles title.

Amal Raj was simply superb with his excellent service variations and fast backhand flicks, which rendered Ghosh a pedestrian this evening. In fact, Amal Raj set an early pace taking the first game at 15-13 to sound out a real threat to Ghosh, who did manage to come back and level the score at 2-all. But the crucial fifth game saw the Chennai paddler win 11-8 and once he did that, it was a formality he had to go through.

Having to take a night train to New Delhi, Amal Raj was in real hurry to finish off the game and it was not surprising that the No. 1 seed ended the final exactly the way he would have wanted. The former national champion is scheduled to leave for Warsaw tomorrow night to play the Polish League. And he would surely be remembering the win here all through his train and flight journeys. Ghosh, who just returned from Sweden, was somewhat rusty while Amal Raj was in complete control as he had won 4-0 scores in earlier matches.

Madhurika Patkar began and ended the final proceedings with a bang. The No. 5 seed had an aggressive approach to the match right from the start and Mouma was unable to cope with the pace set by Madhurika. The girl from Maharashtra, knowing her opponent’s Achilles’ heel, went for the kill with her excellent forehand shots with literally no challenge coming from Mouma.

As for the Junior Girls singles, Airports Authority of India’s Ayhika Mukherjee proved far superior to North Bengal’s Sagarika Mukherjee. Ayhika won the final 4-2 and what turned the tide in her favour was she was able to clinch those crucial winners even when pushed to the corner. Moreover, Ayhika was equally good on her backhand and exploited Sagarika’s weak links too well on the day.

Puia-Abishek share spoils

Lalrin Puia, who won the Junior Boys title, avenged his semi-final defeat in the Youth Boys section to Abhishek Yadav. Puia, whose ability to play the long ball too well, brought him the rewards as Yadav, having to play his second final within half an hour of each other, failed to overcome a rampaging Puia. Though they know each other’s game too well, Puia was consisted in keeping the ball on the table, indulging in long rallies. Yadav, who excels in his close-to-the-table game, on the other hand missed several winners going for the corner shots to keep Puia out of harm’s way.

In the Youth Boys final, however, Yadav defeated Sourav Saha 4-2. Earlier, both Yadav and Saha were stretched completely in the semi-finals by their rivals but the never-say-die attitude of Yadav won him the day when he took on Saha in the final. Saha, who played superbly against a determined Sudhanshu Grover in the semi-finals, failed to replicate his resolve against the Nanjing Youth Asian Games bronze medallist.

Suthirtha too strong

The Youth Girls singles title went to Suthirtha Mukherjee. She beat Reeth Tennison in the final 4-2. Reeth, who recovered well in the semi-final, could not repeat her performance despite levelling the score at 1-1. Suthirtha, upped the ante in time to shut out her opponent’s challenge.

The sub-junior and Cadet events begin tomorrow.

Results:

Men: Final: A Amal Raj (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) 4-2 (15-13, 11-7, 5-11, 7-11, 11-8,11-8).

Women: Final: Madhurika Patkar bt Mouma Das 4-0 (11-7, 11-2, 11-4, 11-7).

Junior Boys: Final: Lalrin Puia (PSPBA) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) 4-2 (11-3, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Abhishek Yadav bt Utkarsh Gupta 4-1 (11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9), Lalrin Puia bt Birdie Boro 4-1 (11-9, 11-9, 15-13, 7-11, 11-6).

Junior Girls: Final: Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) bt Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) 4-2 (11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6); Semifinals: Sagarika Mukherjee bt Akula Sreeja 4-2 (11-4, 11-4, 5-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7), Ayhika Mukjerjee bt Anushka Dutta 4-1 (6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 12-10, 12-10).

Youth Boys: Final: AbhishekYadav (PSPB) bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 4-2 (12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Sourav Saha bt Sudhanshu Grover 4-3 (10-12, 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9), Abhishek Yadav bt Lalrin Puia 4-3 (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8).

Youth Girls: Final: Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Reeth Tennison (PSPB) 4-2 (11-9, 14-16, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7); Semifinals: Reeth Tennison bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 4-1 (11-8, 10-12, 14-12, 11-9, 11-9), Suthirtha Mukherjee bt Manika Batra 4-0 (11-6, 11-6, 13-11, 11-5).