Kolkata, August 27: The jinx for Anthony Amalraj continued as the titleholder went down to Soumyajit Ghosh 1-4 while Achanta Sharath Kamal, needing to prove a point, took his time to beat Harmeet Desai 4-2 in the men’s singles semifinals of the Ordnance Factory Board-conducted 42nd All-India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the Khudiram Indoor Stadium here this afternoon. Both Ghosh and Sharath will play in the final later this evening.

Earlier, No. 1 seed Poulomi Ghatak defeated No. 4 Ankita Das 4-0 in just 25 minutes while No. 7 Divya Deshpande accounted for No. 6 Mousmi Paul 4-1 to enter the women’s final.

Soumyajit, who had beaten Amalraj three times before in the last two years, demolished the latter by launching an early attack that upset the rhythm of his PSPB teammate. Amalraj, who never slows down, played his own brand of game but was unable to match Ghosh’s aggression on the day. Amalraj has to blame himself for making far too many mistakes, both with his forehand smashes and returns close to the net.

Known for his never-say-die attitude, Amalraj was in his groove when he took second set. That was the only occasion when he showed a glimpse of a comeback. But he lost out going either for early smashes or was done in by some not-so-clever backhand flick shots he played. On the other hand, Ghosh used all tricks in his bag, varying alternating between high-toss and close backhand serves. He was always there with good returns and the match which saw some good rallies ended up with more points for Ghosh than Amalraj.

Sharath, who has national ranking has gone down and aptly seeded No. 6, was well on course in his semifinal against No. 10 Desai by taking the first two sets. But Desai clawed his way back nicely and took the next two sets, posing questions at the senior pro, the only Indian who has a higher world ranking at 73.

Desai, in fact, was on game point and serving at 10-8 in the fifth but going for a push at the net gave Sharath some breather. That’s when the No. 6 showed his aggressive intent and brought the score level at 10-10 and then go on to win 12-10. In the sixth game, Sharath took early lead and Desai had his moments first when he made it 7-7 before taking a point lead at 8-7. Then it was the turn of Sharath to catch up with him. With the score reading 9-9 Sharath just sealed the fate of Desai, taking the next two points for the game, set and match.        

If Poulomi brought maturity and order to her game right from the word go, Ankita was struggling to find her rhythm going. The Siliguri girl continued in the same vein as she did last month at the London Games. Her serves were poor and the service returns even worse. The back and forehand jabs often hit the net and stayed on her side of the court.

As the score-line would suggest, Poulomi simply toyed with Ankita with aggressive trademark forehands which brought her a higher percentage of clear winners. The national champion was more apt with variations in serves and excelled in her was close-to-the table play and her jabs often caught Akita on the wrong foot. Even otherwise, the latter’s body language was suggestive of the things to come as Ankita could never push Poulomi to the fence. The match lasted just 25 minutes.

Divya, on the other hand, was a little rusty to begin with but picked up momentum as the match went by. With her excellent service returns and scorching forehand smashes she cornered Mousmi Pal. But it must be said to the credit of Mousmi that she never gave up against a tough opponent and kept herself always in the game.

Mouma-Poulomi pair wins title

Top-seeded pair of Mouma Das and Poulomi Ghatak defeated second seeded duo of K. Shamini and Mousmi Paul 3-2 (10-12, 10-12, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10) to win the women’s doubles crown. Down by two sets, both Mouma and Poulomi combined very well to outwit their opponents. It must have been somewhat difficult for Poulomi, who played her singles semifinals at 10. And to return to the table after a brief rest and score a comeback win was indeed remarkable.     

Results:

Men’s singles: Semifinals: A Sharath Kamal bt Harmeet Desai 4-2 (13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Amalraj 4-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-3).

Women’s singles: Semifinals: Poulomi Ghatak bt Ankita Das 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4), Divya Deshpande bt Mousmi Paul 4-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6).