Jalandhar, April 30: Anil Kashyap of Assam ascended the top of the podium to claim the gold medal and hoist the winner's trophy after beating Sudhir Kesarwani of RBI in the final of the 40+ category singles for men in the UTT 29th National Masters Table Tennis Championships at the PAP Indoor Stadium today.

In contrast to the two higher-category finals that went down to the wire, Kashyap disposed of his rival in less than 10 minutes as Kesarwani failed to overcome his opponent. 

In the 50+ singles final, the results could have gone either way at 11-11 in the fifth game. But Manish Rawat of Maharashtra, suffering cramps, conceded the match as Malay Kumar Thakkar took home the gold as the medal. Thakkar led 2-1, but the Maharashtra paddler fought back to level the score. In the decisive fifth game, Rawat conceded with cramps making it worse for him to continue.

In the 60+ singles final, Anil Rasam of Maharashtra led 2-1. But a fightback from Pankaj Sharma saw Rasam pushed to the brink as the Punjab paddler took the fourth game to pull level. In the last game, Sharma lost his steam and wilted under pressure from Rasam.

Without breaking a sweat, Prakash Kelkar of Maharashtra beat Peter Desouza of Himachal Pradesh 3-0 to win the 65+ singles title for men to swell the Maharashtra kitty of medals. Whatever little resistance that the Himachal paddler made, it could not stop Kelker from winning gold.

Sudhir Kesarwani and Anil Kashyap entered the final, beating Sandeep Kannabadi (3-1) of Karnataka and Santosh Wakradkar (3-0) of Maharashtra, respectively, in the 40+ category for men. In 50+ semi-finals, Manish Rawat and Malay Kumar Thakkar will clash for the title after downing their rivals Santosh Khirwarkar (3-1) of IA&AD and Basab Chaudhuri (3-2) of West Bengal, respectively.

In the 60+ semi-finals, Pankaj Sharma defeated Parag Shah of Gujarat 3-1, while Anil Rasam struggled to get past Jaswinder Singh Patheja of West Bengal 3-2. In the 65+ section, Prakash Kelkar moved into the final, beating Pramod Soni of Madhya Prades 3-1, and Peter Desouza accounted for Ravi Vashist of Delhi in straight games.

WB and Maharashtra dominate

Chandrani Dey Ganguly and Kaushik Dey Sarkar from West Bengal took less than half an hour to beat Soumya Narendra Prasad and Sandeep Kannambadi of Karnataka 3-0 to claim the 40+ mixed doubles crown. Sonal Joshi and Hiral Mehta from Gujarat dropped a game before regrouping to beat Shilpa Joshi and Manish Rawat of Maharashtra 3-1 to win gold in the 50+ category.

In the 60+ section, Karabi Maity and Subhamoy Chatterjee of West Bengal combined to outsmart Mantu Murmu and Jaswinder Singh Patheja, also from West Bengal, 3-0 and win the gold. Mangal Saraf and Yogesh Desai from Maharashtra toyed with state mates Mythili Sodhi and Jayant Kulkarni in the 65+ final to add gold to their kitty.

Singles gold for Chandrani and Ripu

Chandrani Dey Ganguly of West Bengal defeated Mousumi Banerjee, also from Bengal, in straight games to claim the 40+ singles crown for women. But Ripu Daman, despite dropping a game, went on to win the 50+ singles gold, beating Anagha R. Joshi from Maharashtra 3-1.

Results:

Men’s Singles 40+: Final: Anil Kashyap (Asm) bt Sudhir Kesarwani (RBI) 11-6, 11-4, 11-8.

Semi-finals: Sudhir Kesarwani (RBI) bt Sandeep Kannambadi (Kar) 11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3; Anil Kashyap (Asm) bt Santosh R. Wakradkaar (Mah) 11-3, 11-8, 11-9.

Men’s Singles 50+: Final: Malay Kumar Thakkar (Guj) bt Manish Rawat (Mah) 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 13-11.

Semi-finals: Manish Rawat (Mah) bt Santosh Khirwarkar (IA&AD) 11-8, 11-3, 13-15, 11-5; Malay Kumar Thakkar (Guj) bt Basab Chaudhuri (WB) 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 11-7.

Men’s Singles 60+: Final: Anil Rasam (Mah) bt Pankaj Sharma (Pun) 8-11, 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8.

Semi-finals: Pankaj Sharma (Pun) bt Parag Shah (Guj) 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10; Anil Rasam (Mah) bt Jaswinder Singh Patheja (WB) 7-11, 11-4, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6.

Men’s Singles 65+: Final:  Prakash Kelkar (Mah) bt Peter Desouza (HP) 11-5, 11-8, 11-7.

Semi-finals: Prakash Kelkar (Mah) bt Pramod Soni (MP) 11-9, 13-15, 11-4, 11-9; Peter Desouza (HP) bt Ravi Vahist (Del) 11-9, 13-11, 11-8.

Women’s Singles 40+: Final: Chandrani Dey Ganguly (WB) bt Mousumi Banerjee (WB) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.

Women’s Singles 50+: Final: Ripu Daman (Pun) bt Anagha R Joshi (Mah) 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6.

Mixed Doubles 40+: Final: Chandrani Dey Ganguly/ Kaushik Dey Sarkar (WB) bt Soumya Narendra Prasad/Sandeep Kannabadi (Kar) 11-9, 11-7, 11-4.

Mixed Doubles 50+: Final: Sonal Joshi/Hiral Mehta (Guj) bt Shilpa Joshi/Manish Rawat (Mah) 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10.

Mixed Doubles 60+: Final: Karabi Maity/Subhamoy Chatterjee (WB) bt Mantu Murmu/Jaswinder Singh Patheja (WB) 11-9, 15-13, 11-7.

Mixed Doubles 65+: Final: Mangal Saraf/ Yogesh Desai (Mah) bt Mythili Sodhi/Jayant Kulkarni (Mah) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7.