Dharwad, September 6: Lacking the much-needed match practice, former national champion Mouma Das was on the verge of ouster in the LIC All India National Ranking Table Tennis Championships (South Zone) at the District Indoor Stadium here today.

But the veteran, who never faced such situations in recent times, will be fighting it out tomorrow to prove her distractors wrong when she takes on Anubha Bajaj of Delhi in her last outing. Not that she needs to prove a point to anybody, but for her own sake she will give her cent percent to enter the main draw, after going down to Airport Authority of India’s Chipia 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11.

However, the lapse in her concentration proves the point beyond doubt that there is no substitute to match practice which Mouma missed desperately, after giving a skip to season-opener  Central Zone ranking event at Indore and the subsequent Institutional championships at Delhi.

On the other hand, another former national champion Manika Batra brushed aside her qualification grind to post two straight wins in Group 1 to gain her main draw place. This should serve her well as the preparation ground for the forthcoming 30th ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup in Ahmedabad from September 15.

Unmindful of the sudden change in stature Manika, who is currently world No. 104, first defeated Assam’s Syeda Dania Taski in her opening match, beginning it as cautiously as possible. Gradually gaining ascendancy over her Assamese opponent, she finished off the match in style in less than 20 minutes to win 11-6, 11-2, 11-1. In the second round, she downed Rajasthan’s Nikita Rautela 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 to seal her place in the main draw, the first round of which will begin tomorrow evening.

But for Mouma, who accounted for Senhora D’Souza 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 in her first round group 17 tie rather easily, the loss to Chipia must have come as a rude shock.  After being extended in the first game, Mouma was visibly tired and yet she picked up momentum in the second to win it. However, hampered by the normal quick flowing movement Mouma was at the receiving end as the AAI girl played truly well to more or less take the top perch in the group.

The draw of 128, which received rave reviews from players, was introduced at the Central Zone National Ranking championships at Indore to help a second player get into the main draw. In the earlier system adopted, only the group leader made the cut. Under the current dispensation, the players hovering in the 17-32 brackets and up to 64 have chances to sneak in if they manage to post at least one win in a group of four players, particularly in a three-way tie.   

Take for instance, Krittwika Sinha Roy, who is India No.15.  By that yardstick she should have topped the group with an all-win record and walked into the main draw. But the PSPB woman was stunned when RBI’s new recruit and India No. 4 in Youth Girls, Harshavardhini, outwitted her 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 in their first round group 7 tie. However, Krttwika still has a chance to make the grade.

Setback for Karnataka

From the hosts’ point of view, it was a bad beginning for Kushi Viswanath who lost her first round match in group 15 to Ashlesha Trehan of the Railways 9-11, 11-13, 11-6, 5-11. Shailu Noorbasha of Andhra Pradesh downed Samyukta Kumar 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7. However, Spoorthi Venkatesh, who defeated Namna Jaiswal of Gujarat 11-7, 11-9, 13-11, made amends for her teammates’ loss.

In men singles, Shreyas Kulkarni started on a wrong note against Nitin Thiruvengadam of Canara Bank in group 10. Nitin, a seasoned player, just toyed with his Karnataka opponent to win 11-5, 11-4, 11-5. But P.V. Charan defeated Aakash Kasar of Maharashtra 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 in his first outing to give Karnataka some hope.

As for the regulars in both sections, the results went along the expected line. But with a day to go for the qualification processes to end, some surprises could be in store.