Harmeet and Archana lift trophies
Vadodara, November 25: Top seed Harmeet showed his class and why he is the top-ranked Indian in the world when he beat ninth-seed Jeet Chandra 4-2 in the men’s singles final in the third UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sama Indoor Stadium here yesterday.
Just before that, Archana Kamath lifted her maiden title when she triumphed over Ayhika Mukherjee, the second seed, with a 4-0 verdict.
When Jeet led 2-0, it looked like the Airports Authority of India (AAI) player was on his way to his first title. But, with his reputation at stake, the CWG medallist and world No. 73 shifted gears to take the next four games on the trot and lift the trophy. Jeet, who took the first two extended games, was searching for the ball on the table, and Harmeet, with his loads of experience, just rolled past him. Along the way, the senior pro from Gujarat taught Jeet a few lessons about keeping a cool head in critical junctures of a final.
What must have disheartened the young Jeet was he failed to do what he did to second-seed G. Sathiyan. His commanding lead against the PSPB paddler put enormous pressure on Sathiyan, and he could not recover from it despite his experience. In the case of Harmeet, Jeet knew the class of his opponent. On the other hand, an unruffled Harmeet knew it was just a matter of hitting rhythm and winning one game.
In the third game, with his deft touch and brilliant placements, the Surat man asked questions, and Jeet had no answers. Using his lethal forehands that complemented his backhand blocks, Harmeet went from strength to strength to wrap it up quickly.
Eighth seed Archana Kamath redeemed herself with authority in a one-sided women’s singles final. But the first title win was sweeter for the Bengaluru girl, soothing her nerves and bringing great relief. She was almost there but could never win the national ranking crown despite showing promise since her title at the Cuttack Nationals in 2018.
Full credit to the PSPB paddler, who shed all inhibitions and self-doubts of recent times to beat the in-form RBI player, who won the first national ranking crown in Hyderabad in June.
It was a patchy start for Ayhika, who tried to pull herself back in the stretched second game. But Archana was on song and never allowed the RBI paddler to come anywhere close to being a threat to her title aspirations, keeping her at a distance to clinch the gold medal. A happy Archana was all smiles as her struggle over the couple of years has borne fruit.
Results:
Men’s Singles: Final: Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Jeet Chandra (AAI) 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.
Women’s Singles: Final: Archana Kamath (PSPB) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 11-7, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7.
