SUBRAMANIAM RAMAN is a person difficult to dislike. One strikes an immediate rapport with the paddler from Chennai not only because of his frank and forthright views but also because of his no-nonsense approach to the game. Yet, one hoped and wished that he would have lost in the final of the India Cup table tennis tournament, organised at the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai recently. This feeling did not stem from any personal misgivings about the player, but rather hinged on his opponent's status. If the 16-year-old Sourav Chakraborty had won, it would have been a triumph for the game. It would have signalled the emergence of the younger brigade from the shadows of the old.
For long now, table tennis in the country has been synonymous with names like Raman, Chetan Baboor, Arup Basak, etc. The final of the India Cup provided the ideal platform for the monopoly to be broken, but, alas, a player who had shown skills and maturity far beyond his 16-plus years while making it to the final, just froze at the last hurdle and suddenly looked a player who did not belong to this stage, his tentativeness translating to mediocrity in the face of Raman's impeccable play. The Indian Oil employee won the final of the southpaws 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, besides Rs 50,000 in cash.
The women's final between two well-established players, N. R. Indu and Montu Ghosh, also failed to live up to the quality expected from a title clash, with Chennai's Indu, ranked No. 2 in the country, brushing aside Bengal's Montu in straight games, 11-5, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6. Indu, also employed with Indian Oil, took home Rs. 30,000 for her effort.
The event, organised by Khar Gymkhana and the Rotary Club of Mumbai Skyline, had all the top players of the country in the fray, barring Chetan Baboor, but a spate of upsets in the quarter-finals and semi-finals saw the form book torn to shreds. The country's No. 1 men's player, Soumyadeep Roy lost in the quarter-finals to Ranbir Das, a player just out of the junior ranks, while Indu sent packing women's no. 1 Mouma Das.
Ranbir, trailing by three games to Roy, then began a counter-assault that had the national champion groping for answers. Over-confidence on the part of Roy saw him indulge in some flashy play, which cost him the fourth game. However, this also helped Ranbir get into the groove and he was unstoppable thereafter. "My control was off initially and made too many mistakes. However, I was confident against him for I have beaten him in the past too," said the youngster.
Indu was in total control of her match against Mouma. Having learnt from her earlier mistakes against the no. 1 player, Indu never let her guard down. A tentative start saw her lose the first game but after that there was no looking back and she won the next four.
Also disappointing was former national champion and Olympian Poulomi Ghatak of Bengal, who lost in the quarterfinals to her state-mate Anandita Chakraborty. Having put on considerable weight, Poulomi looked a shadow of her former self and barring a few great top-spin returns and flashing counters, her inconsistency was an indication of her poor preparation.
Meanwhile, Raman and Basak made steady progress from the other half of the draw to meet in the semi-finals and it was here that Raman gave indications of his good form by defeating Basak in six games. In the other semi-final, Ranbir failed to reproduce his fighting qualities and went down tamely to Sourav Chakraborty.
In the women's final, Indu, who defeated Montu thrice this season was the clear favourite, but even she did not expect it to be so easy. With Montu regularly playing to Indu's forehand, which is her strength, the Indian Oil employee had no difficulty in picking winners with ease. It was only in the third game that Montu put up a semblance of a fight, even taking the lead for the first time in the match, but relinquished a 10-7 lead and then lost the game 12-14. The fourth game was easy picking for the country's No. 2 player and the final scoreline read 11-5, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6.
The men's final was expected to be close because Sourav had given ample notice of his skills with victories over Shivaji Dutta and Ranbir Das, players ranked higher than him. However, he couldn't do much against an inspired Raman, looking for his first title of the season. He won the third game when Raman let his guard drop but that was about all he had to show in the match. The final scoreline read 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6 in favour of Raman.
Other than the battle between experience and youth, it was also a contest of contrasting styles between the two southpaws. The 35-year-old Raman likes to attack from the word go, while Sourav plays a waiting game, forcing his opponent to make mistakes. However, the former kept moving his diminutive rival around the table, picking up winners with his lethal forehand and he was always in control of the proceedings. Having played a relatively tough semi-final against Basak in the morning, Raman was definitely feeling the effect of the humid conditions, but he never let his concentration waver and the end result provided a sweet relief.
Raman, who won his first title of the season, once again reiterated the difficulty faced in the new system of scoring. "Every point is important now. In the humid conditions, it becomes very difficult," he said. On his loss in the third game, the Indian Oil employee said, "That was my body and mind giving up. Being two games up, I just relaxed a bit and before I knew it I had lost a game. I then had to get back to the high level of concentration."
The results:Men's final: S. Raman (TN) bt Sourav Chakraborty (Bengal) 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6.
Semi-finals: S. Raman (TN) bt Arup Basak (Bengal) 7-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7; S. Chakraborty, (Bengal) bt Ranvir Das (Bengal) 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6.
Women's final: N. R. Indu (TN) bt Montu Ghosh (Bengal) 11-5, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6.
Semi-finals: N. R. Indu (TN) bt T. Pradeepa (TN) 11-9, 11-3, 4-11, 11-4, 11-4; Montu Ghosh (Bengal) bt Anandita Chakraborty (Bengal) 11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6.
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