Paddlers complete golden sweep

Cuttack, July 22

Harmeet Desai and Ayhika Mukherjee won the men’s and women’s singles titles as hosts India completed a clean sweep, claiming all the seven gold medals at the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.

Harmeet, 26, beat favourite G Sathiyan 4-3 (9-11 6-11 11-5 11-8 17-15 7-11 11-9 in a hard-fought final to claim the men’s singles title. 

After being down 0-2 initially, Harmeet made a valiant comeback to outwit Sathiyan in a marathon seven game contest. 

Earlier, Anthony Amalraj and Manav Thakkar claimed the men’s doubles gold by stunning top seeds Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal 3-1 (8-11 11-6 13-11 12-10). 

In women singles, Ayhika won her maiden gold in the Championships, thrashing former national champion Madurika Patkar 4-0 (11-6 11-4 11-9 19-17).

Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Krittwika Sinha Roy defeated compatriots Sreeja Akula and Mousumi Paul 3-1 (11-9 11-8 9-11 12-10) to claim the women’s doubles crown. 

Interestingly, no paddler could replicate their gold-winning performance in other events. The domination of home paddlers could be gauged from the fact that all finals of the day featured only the Indians.

Indian paddlers topped the medals tally with seven gold, five silver and three bronze. England (2 silver, 3 bronze) were second ahead of Singapore (6 bronze), Malaysia and Nigeria (1 bronze each). 

‘Foreign coach yet to join’

The Tokyo Olympics is only a year away but Indian table tennis’ new foreign coach Dejan Papic is yet to join the national team, affecting the paddlers’ preparation for the showpiece. 

In March, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had roped in Papic as chief coach in place of the long-serving Massimo Costantini, who quit last year citing personal reasons. Under Costantini, India had made rapid strides with historic performances at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games, where the country ended a 60-year-wait for a table tennis medal. But now the players are left to fend for themselves. 

“Massimo (Costantini) had to go for some family issues and after that a coach was finalised but we don’t know when he will be joining. Without a coach it is difficult to prepare for the Olympics,” said India’s premier paddler A Sharath Kamal during an interaction here. 

Papic had interacted with the senior Indian players during the World individual championships in Budapest. 

He was expected to join the team this month with the ongoing Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in Cuttack supposed to be his first assignment at home. — PTI

Commonwealth TT Championships

RESULTS

Men’s singles: Harmeet Desai bt G Sathiyan 9-11 6-11 11-5 11-8 17-15 7-11 11-9

Women’s singles: Ayhika Mukherjee bt Madhurika Patkar 11-6 11-4 11-9 19-17

Men’s doubles: A Amalraj and Manav Thakkar bt A Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan 8-11 11-6 13-11 12-10 

Mixed doubles: Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping bt Pranav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy 5-21 11-21

Women’s doubles:Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Krtittwika Sinha Roy bt Sreeja Akula and Mousumi Paul 11-9 11-8 9-11 12-10