Ghosh, Shamini win TT titles

Reigning national champion Soumyajit Ghosh added yet another feather to his cap beating Anthony Amalraj 4-1 to retain the men's singles title while it was a double delight for women's national champion K. Shamini at the Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the District Indoor Hall here Tuesday.

The winners carried home Rs.75,000 (Men's) and Rs.58,000 (Women's), respectively.

After a brilliant start, Ghosh lagged behind in the second against Amalraj and eventually lost the game. But Ghosh retained his flavour to win the third game despite being 4-7 down.

Amalraj, showing occasional brilliance, was definitely struggling against Ghosh. In the decider, Ghosh just allowed Amalraj six points to wrap it up quickly.

"I had a nice rhythm going and I cashed in on it. After winning the third game, I grew in confidence," said the champion.

Amalraj, on the other hand, admitted to have committed several errors at crucial junctures. "I was not in my groove today. I tried to control the game but Ghosh was too good," he said.

Shamini won the women's singles crown 4-0 in a one-sided final against Poulomi Ghatak. Before that she had claimed the women's doubles title with Madhurika Patkar.

As for the Shamini-Poulomi final, the national champion did not have to sweat it out at all. On the day, Shamini went great guns demolishing whatever little challenge that came from Poulomi. "I played really good. I kept attacking and it paid dividends," said Shamini.

The men's doubles title went to Sourav Saha and G. Sathiyan while K. Shamini and Madhurika Patkar combined to blank out Ankita Das and Reeth Rishya 3-0.

Final results:

Men's singles: Soumyajit Ghosh bt Anthony Amalraj 4-1 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6).

Men's doubles: Sourav Saha/G. Sathiyan bt Jubin Kumar/A. Amalraj 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10).

Women's singles: K. Shamini bt Poulomi Ghatak 4-0 (11-7, 11-1, 11-8, 11-2).

Women's doubles: K. Shamini/Madhurika Patkar bt Ankita Das/Reeth Rishya 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-5).