CUTTACK: In a mammoth summit clash for the Home Association’s Cup that lasted for over two-and-half-hours, India men’s team came back from 0-2 down to finally beat England 3-2 in the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Cuttack on Friday. This was India’s third title in this competition.
It was a start to forget as A Sharath Kamal lost to World No 186 Thomas Jarvis in straight games. Jarvis deserved credits for not only blocking superbly but also putting the experienced Sharath in a tangle with his accuracy. India’s top ranked paddler G Sathiyan was equally guilty of plotting his own downfall against World No 86 Samuel Walker. He had initially taken a 2-0 lead but Walker came back as India were staring at an unlikely loss.
Enter Harmeet Desai. The Gujarat player, who is incidentally also celebrating his birthday on Friday, defeated David McBeath to provide India with some much-needed oxygen and his win helped the hosts regain the momentum, something both Sharath and Sathiyan alluded to post the encounter. Sathiyan and Sharath then went on to clinch the reverse singles.
Indian women downed Singapore 3-0 to dethrone the defending champions before easing past England in the finals. Archana Kamath began well for India but it took some time before she could shake off her rustiness to overcome Ho Tin-Tin, England’s No 1 with a pen-holder grip. Archana, when attacked on the forehand, found her returns going awry but her strong backhand rescued her against the promising player of Chinese origin. After she won the extended second game, the Indian never looked back and put India on a winning path.
Manika Batra decimated Denise Payet and Madhurika Patkar woke up from her passive play to tighten the noose around Emily Bolton and England for a 3-0 sweep.
Manika pulls out
Manika, who withdrew at the eleventh hour from singles and doubles, forced the referee to re-draw the seeding list on Friday afternoon.