Mysore, June 9: Rivalry in sport is nothing new. In Indian table tennis, face-offs like those between Kamlesh Mehta and S Sriram; Kamlesh and Sujay Ghorpade; and Indu Puri and Monalisa Barua-Mehta have only enhanced interest in the game.

Yet, in recent times, a new, and ugly, kind of rivalry has emerged between the two paddlers from Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSCB) -- Chetan Baboor and Arup Basak. So the Baboor-Basak clash at the Games was to be the highpoint of the table tennis competition.

The two duly reached the final, but it was hardly the kind of a match anybody would have wanted.

Basak, India No 2, was keyed up from the word go. Very early in the match, he showed dissent by disputing a line call. In the fourth game, Basak's argumentative abilities came to the fore once again. He vociferously disputed a serve by Baboor and complicated matter by refusing to resume the game.

After he lost the match, resorting to mindless acrobatics while serving, Basak's anger turned towards the chief referee as he began shouting: ``You want him to win every match.'' When the scribes approached him all that they got was ``No comments''.

Still it left a bad taste, coming as it did from the No. 2 player in the country.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.