Devesh Karia of Gujarat and Suthirtha Mukherjee of PSPB bagged the men's and women's singles title at the LIC National Ranking (North Zone) Table Tennis Championships here today.
Karia beat PSPB's Abhishek Yadav 4-3 in the final. The victory for Karia, second this season, was worth Rs. 66,000 in cash.
Suthirtha scraped past PSPB teammate Mouma Das 4-3 to win the women's singles competition. She earned Rs. 55,000 for her exploits.
In the men's final that went down to the wire, Yadav was going for those down-the-line winners and clever placing while Karia concentrated more on acute angle winners. The match, contested in equal measure, kept everyone glued to the show court. It also saw several long rallies and good points earned and there was hardly a dull moment. There was fine display of excellent use of flanks, angles with no dearth of blistering strokes.
In the decider, Karia was leading but for the first time Yadav took lead at 5-4. However, there were several surprises in store for both as the game went endlessly with several deuces. Yadav had his chance at 15-14 with serve on. But he goofed it up and Karia, receiving service at 16-15, returned so well that Yadav's shot just hit the net remain on his side of the table.
Results: Men's Singles: Final: Devesh Karia (Guj) bt Abhishek Yadav 4-3 (7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 3-11, 11-9, 17-15.
Women's Singles: Final: Suthirtha Mukherjee (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) 4-3 (7-11, 12-14, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-6); Semifinals: Suthirtha Mukherjee bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-2 (6-11, 11-4, 13-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-8), Mouma Das bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 4-2 (11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6).
Youth Boys Singles: Final: Abhishek Yadav (PSPB) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 4-2 (12-10, 12-10, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 14-12); Semifinals: Abhishek Yadav bt Birdie Boro (PSPBA) 4-1 (11-4, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4), Sudhanshu Grover bt Siddhesh Pande (AI) 4-1 (11-2, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6).
Youth Girls Singles: Final: Archana Kamath (KNT) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 4-2 (11-6, 11-4, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-3); Semifinals: Archana Kamath bt Priyadarshini Das (AAI) 4-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5), Reeth Rishya bt Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) 4-2 (11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7).
