LUCKNOW, January 29: Ultimately, the two best men and two women in terms of quality and rankings here will fight it out for the coveted singles titles at the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships later this evening at the SAI sub-centre hall on Sunday.  So, it will be the PSPB men and women finals all the way.

 

No.1 Achanta Sharath Kamal, who beat Soumyajit Ghosh 4-1, will take on No. 2 A. Amal Raj, who mowed down Subhajit Saha, 4-0, in the men’s final, while No. 1 Poulami Ghatak, who won over a determined Ankita Das 4-3, will run into defending champion and No. 2 seed K. Shamini in the women’s final. Shamini accounted for Mouma Das 4-1.

 

All semi-finals went along the expected lines result-wise. However, the one between Poulami and Ankita had all the ingredients of a tough semi-final where a No. 5 seed could have caused an upset against the top-seeded Poulami.

 

Leading 3-2 and 6-4 up in the sixth game, Ankita was coasting along nicely with Poulami pushed to the brink. It was then that Poulami was given a little leeway and she quietly sneaked in, thanks to the cardinal blunder from Ankita, who during a counter, went for a wild smash. That was error No. 1 and it was followed by a few more and Poulami, picking a point here and there, levelled the score at 8-all.

 

That was all the No. 1 seed needed and Ankita was now at the receiving end as she took three points on the trot. From there the match seemed going only one way as another set of mistakes in the decider spelt doom for Ankita. The forlorn-looking Siliguri girl couldn’t believe her eyes after watching the golden opportunity slipping from her hands.

 

Shamini, on the other hand, just dismissed Mouma except when the latter took the fourth game at 15-13. From form the defending champion should be able to retain her title.

 

The men’s semi-finals didn’t throw any such surprise as Sharath went through the motion against Ghosh, who managed to win the second game to level the score at 1-1, and shut out the challenge without any inhibition. So did Amalraj against Saha, who had staged a fantastic comeback against Soumyadeep Roy yesterday in the quarterfinals. In fact, Amalraj was more professional and allowed no liberty to his opponent.

 

Now that he is in his maiden final of the senior nationals, it is up to him to show his mettle. He had beaten Sharath in the inter-institutional championships to win the crown earlier this season and it is to be seen whether he is capable of repeating the feat once again against a much-fitter Sharath.

 

The Results:

 

Men: Semi-finals: A Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) 4-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8), A. Amalraj (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 4-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8).

 

Women: Semi-finals: K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Mouma Das 4-1 (11-9, 11-4, 12-10, 13-15, 11-6), Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (NB) 4-3 (11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8.