Nov 25: Bengal players today kept their reputation intact and were seen battling for top honours in both boys and girls final on the concluding day of the 61st Stroh's Junior National and Inter-State table tennis championships at the Sector 23 Indoor Table Tennis Hall. In the all-Bengal boys' final, unseeded Shubham Chaudhary overpowered state-mate Ranbir Das 17-21, 11-21, 21-12, 21-15, 21-14 while top seed Poulomi Ghatak (Bengal) retained her title defeating Mouma Das (Bengal) 18-21, 21-11, 21-16, 21-18 to wears the girls' singles crown.
Ranbir, who accounted for second seed Sudantu Das of Petroleum Sports Control Board Academy (PSCBA) in the semifinal, matched his opponent's moves in the first set but faded in the closing stage to lose by four points (17-21). The eventual winner was also error prone in the second set which gave Shubham Chaudhary 2-0 lead.
But Ranbir came on the course to title by pocketing the third set (21-12). He took the initial lead and went on to win the set which marked hissuperiority over opponent Shubham, who beat top seed Anal Kashyap (PSCBA) in the semis.
Ranbir won the fourth set to level score (2-2), and put all his efforts to win the decider (21-14) and clinched the title.
Poulomi shrugged off her early lethargy and tested Mouma in the second set with her forehand shots to which the latter had no answer. After 1-1 each, Poulami appeared more confident and was less error prone in the third set. She repeated her performance in the decider to take home the trophy (3-1).
Results
Boys (final): Ranbir Das (Bengal) bt Shubham Chaudhary (Bengal) 17-21, 11-21, 21-12, 21-15, 21-14. Semi-final: Shubham Chaudhary (Bengal) bt Anal Kashyap (PSCBA) 14-21, 21-14, 21-13, 21-14; Ranbir Das (Bengal) bt Sudantu Das (PSCBA) 21-14, 21-15, 13-21, 21-14.
Doubles:
Anal Kashyap/Soumyadeep Roy (PSCBA) bt Anirban Nandi/Amit Das (Bengal) 21-12, 16-21, 21-18.
Girls (final): Poulomi Ghatak (Bengal) bt Mouma Das (Bengal) 18-21, 21-11, 21-16, 21-18.Semi-final: Poulomi Ghatak (Bengal) bt Susmita Roy (Bengal) 21-10, 21-12, 21-15; Mouma Das (Bengal) bt Mamta Prabhu (Maha) 21-10, 24-26, 12-21, 21-11, 21-11.
Doubles:
Poulomi Ghatak/Mouma Das (Bengal) bt BM Ashwini/Shruthi Prasad (Kar) 16-21, 21-12, 21-12.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.