Ankur Bhattacharjee and Yashaswini Ghorpade emerged as the men’s and women’s singles champions as India capped a dominant campaign by winning four of the five gold medals at the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex here on Sunday.

The men’s final, featuring two of the brightest prospects in Indian table tennis, lived up to the expectations. In a pulsating 70-minute contest, Ankur staged a stirring comeback to overcome Payas Jain, making a strong statement after narrowly missing out on a place in India’s Asian Games squad.

Yashaswini, meanwhile, added a major title to her growing resume by defeating the fancied Sreeja Akula. Both the finalists had been pushed to the limit in the semifinals earlier in the day. Yashaswini had edged teenager Syndrela Das 11-9 in the deciding game, while Sreeja had survived an equally stern examination from Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee to win by the same margin.

The draining last-four match, however, left little trace on Yashaswini. She quickly settled into the final, repeatedly finding the mark with her forehand topspins to deny Sreeja any rhythm. The victory served as redemption after she and Divyanshi Bhowmick had gone down to Sreeja and Syndrela in the women’s doubles summit clash earlier on Sunday.

Yashaswini added a major title to her growing resume.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

While the women’s title battle was largely one-sided, the men’s final ebbed and flowed throughout. Payas’ powerful forehand topspins initially outweighed Ankur’s trademark backhand winners as the Delhi paddler moved within a game of the crown at 3-2.

But Ankur showed remarkable improvement while receiving, reeling off nine consecutive points in the sixth game to force a decider.

The seventh game brought another twist. A yellow card for protesting Payas’ service appeared to disrupt Ankur’s concentration as he slipped 4-7 behind. But the Kolkata youngster used his timeout to regroup, returned with renewed purpose and completed a memorable comeback to earn the biggest title of his career.

The results (Indians unless specified):

Men: Singles: Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Payas Jain 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9; Semifinals: Payas bt Manush Shah 11-9, 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9; Ankur bt Manav Thakkar 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. Doubles: Final: Shen Qi Wong & Javen Choong (Mas) bt Manav & Manush 11-9, 12-10, 11-7.

Women: Singles: Final: Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Sreeja Akula 11-6, 11-1, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11; Semifinals: Sreeja bt Syndrela Das 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9; Yashaswini bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 6-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9. Doubles: Final: Sreeja & Syndrela bt Yashaswini & Divyanshi Bhowmick 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-6.

Mixed doubles: Final: Taneesha Kotecha & Manav bt Ai Xin Tee & Richard Rui Zhe Yap (Mas) 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5.

Diminutive Sreeja Akula and bespectacled Manav Thakkar produced contrasting yet equally influential performances as India’s women and men marched into the team finals of the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Both the teams outclassed England in their respective semifinals to set up title clashes against giant-killer Malaysia on Thursday.

The afternoon session began with the Indian women taking centre stage before a vocal group of schoolchildren cheering the home side. Sreeja, blending her long-pimpled backhand with explosive forehand topspin winners, barely broke sweat in dispatching Cheuk Wong to hand India the perfect start.

England responded through the experienced Tin-Tin Ho. Armed with her distinctive pen-hold grip and an uncanny ability to effectively use her backhand, Ho never allowed Yashaswini Ghorpade to settle into a rhythm and levelled the tie with a commanding win.

Sreeja sizzles

Teenager Syndrela Das restored India’s advantage with another composed display before Sreeja returned for the decisive fourth rubber. Her duel with Ho turned out to be the contest of the tie, featuring engrossing rallies and relentless changes in momentum. Sreeja held her nerve in the crunch moments, edging a gripping five-game battle to seal the place in the final.

Moments after the women exchanged handshakes, the men’s teams walked onto the show court. While Manush Shah’s opening rubber against Connor Green provided the early entertainment, it was Manav who earned widespread admiration.

Less than 24 hours after sustaining a deep cut to his forehead, against Australia, that required 13 stitches, Manav showed little sign of discomfort. Refusing to let the injury disrupt his rhythm, Manav produced another commanding display as India completed a 3-0 sweep without conceding a game.

The victory sets up a mouth-watering rematch against Malaysia, with the Indian men eager to avenge the surprise defeat they suffered in the league stage.

The results (semifinals): Women: India bt England 3-1 (Sreeja Akula bt Cheuk Lam Jasmin Wong 11-6, 11-3, 11-9; Yashaswini Ghorpade lost to Tin-Tin Ho 9-11, 6-11, 7-11; Syndrela Das bt Anna Green 11-7, 11-4, 11-9; Sreeja bt Ho 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11; 11-9). Malaysia bt Australia 3-2.

Men: India bt England 3-0 (Manush Shah bt Connor Green11-9, 11-9, 11-6; Manav Thakkar bt Joseph Hunter 11-8, 11-4, 11-5; Harmeet Desai bt Benjamin Piggott 11-5, 11-5, 11-5). Malaysia bt Singapore 3-1.