GANDHIDHAM, Dec. 24: World no. 73 Harmeet Desai gave himself a perfect wedding gift as he beat statemate Manush Shah to win the men’s title at the National Ranking TT Championships 2021 (South Zone) that is being organised by Pondicherry Table Tennis Association, under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India, in Uppalam, Pondicherry.
Harmeet, who was playing his first tournament after his marriage to fellow table tennis star Krittwika Sinha Roy on December 11, looked to be in impressive form despite missing the tournament in Dehradun. It culminated with a triumphing 11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 13-11, 11-7 win over his fast-rising young rival and ninth seed Manush.
“Heartiest congratulations to Harmeet for his performance. He has been in impressive form in the tournament and that showed his class. The fact that there were two Gujarat table tennis players in the final of the tournament speaks volumes about the progress that Gujarat players had made,” GSTTA president Mr Vipul Mittra, IAS, said.
“Manush has been taking big strides and it is really good to see his hard work is showing results. He has been impressive throughout the tournament and his win against Sanil Shetty is a testament to his progress. I am sure with time he will gain the experience and will reach new heights,” GSTTA chairman Mr Milind Torawane, IAS, said.
Both Harmeet and Manush started their campaign with a bye in the opening round.
Harmeet then beat UP’s Divyansh Srivastava 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 while Manush recorded 11-7, 11-7, 13-11, 11-3 win over Soumyadeep Sarkar of Bengal ‘B’.
In the third round, 28-year-old Harmeet edged out PSPB’s Jubin Kumar 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 while 21-year-old Manush beat RSPB’s Ravindra Kotiyan 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-5.
Harmeet then quelled a spirited challenge from ITTF World Youth Championship bronze medallist and under-19 champion Payas Jain of Delhi, who was seeded sixth, for an 11-8, 12-10, 13-15, 11-9, 11-7 win while Manush recorded his first big scalped with an 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 win over eighth seed Fidel Rafeeque Snehit Suravajjula of Telangana in the pre-quarters.
Manush’s biggest win came in the quarters where he shocked top seed Sanil Shetty of PSPB for a thrilling 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10, 11-7 win while Harmeet recorded an 11-9, 13-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 win over AAI’s Jeet Chandra.
In the semis, Harmeet made most of his percentage game to beat Delhi’s Shubh Goel 11-5, 11-6, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7 while Manush continued with his hard-hitting ways to beat 13th seed Anirban Ghosh of RSPB for an 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 14-12, 11-7 win.
Written by : Pranjal Protim Boruah