Sourav, Mouma win National Ranking TT titles

NEW DELHI - Sourav Chakroborty and Mouma Das of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) won the men’s and women’s titles at the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships (North Zone) here Thursday.

Sourav, seeded third, halted the dream run of Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) Soumyajit Ghosh 1-11, 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7 to win the men’s final at the Yamuna Sports Complex.

Though the seasoned Sourav was expected to win against his junior, the way Soumyajit, who had defeated top-seed Abhishek Ravichandran in Wednesday quarterfinals, blanked Sourav in the first set, an upset looked very much on the cards. Sourav, however, used his experience to win the next two sets to pull back things in his favour.

Sourav was leading 7-4 in the fourth but the 17-year-old produced some breathtaking forehand winners to level the match at 2-2. Sourav lifted his game in the last two sets and sealed his second North Zone title.

“I did not play well in the final,” Sourav told IANS. “I played much better in my semi-final against Sanil (Shetty). I knew he (Soumyajit) was on a roll and I had to be on my toes.”

Sourav’s career has been plagued with injuries but the win boosted his confidence. The 25-year-old now aims to play professional league in Europe.

“I have no offers so far but I have told fellow players like Amalraj (Anthony) to find something for me. I need exposure to improve my game and that will be my aim next year,” he said.

In the women’s final, Mouma defeated Dena Bank’s Mamta Prabhu 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 in a hard fought decider.

Mouma was trailing till the third set and said she had to slow the pace of her opponent as she was playing an attacking game.

“I lost to her (Mamta) last time so that was playing on my mind. I could match her for pace so decided to slow things down. Her backhand flick were very effective today but I am happy that I won,” said Mouma.

Earlier, Harmeet Desai of Railways and Pooja Sahasrabudhe of PSPB won the youth boys and girls singles title.