Happy season-ender for Harmeet, Manush settles for Silver

Harmeet Desai defeated Manush Shah 4-0 to lift the Mens singles trophy in the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships 2023 at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium, Panchkula, Haryana.

It was a happy ending to the Season 2023 for the gujarat paddlers. Harmeet won his first title at Vadodara and finished with the second at Panchkula. It augurs well that he can begin afresh in the 85th Senior Nationals with the team championships, starting at the same venue from Saturday.

Harmeet was in a roaring form. His left-handed gujarat rival had no clue of what hit him. Though Harmeet led through in the first game, Manush came close and deuced. But he saved a game point at 10-11 before the senior pro finished the game. After that, the match went only one way, as Harmeet tightened his grip over the trophy with every game.

In a one-sided men’s singles semifinals, fourth-seeded Manush beat Payas Jain of Delhi 3-1, and second-seeded Harmeet thrashed P.B. Abhinand to enter the final.

Payas started well in the first semifinal, but fourth seed Manush levelled the score soon. After that, he never looked back despite Payas pushing him to the corner in the third, fourth and fifth games. Payas had his chances in all three games, but the left-hander had seized the moments that came his way.

Abhinand, after his loss in the U-19 quarterfinal, lacked the sting in his game to beat the second seed. Harmeet, a wily customer, never allowed the liberty to the Tamil Nadu teenager who wilted.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Manush Shah (RBI) 13-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.
Semifinals: Manush Shah bt Payas Jain (Del) 7-11, 11-6, 13-11, 14-12, 12-10; Harmeet Desai bt P.B. Abhinand (TN) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7.