For the second time in three days, G. Sathiyan defeated Sharath Kamal in five sets and claimed his first men’s singles title in the Petroleum inter-unit table tennis tournament here on Friday.
In the women’s final, which wentv the distance, Reeth Rishya battled from a 1-3 deficit against upcoming talent Yashaswini Ghorpade to reel off the last three sets for her second title.
Sathiyan faced an improved version of Sharath within 48 hours of his 4-1 victory in the men’s team final. But overall, Sharath’s lack of sharpness was all too evident in his shot-making.
Even before Sharath could settle down, Sathiyan pocketed the first set. But in the second, a resurgent Sharath looked like drawing level before Sathiyan sneaked ahead to lead 2-0. The third saw Sharath check his unforced errors and dominated Sathiyan. This also raised visions of the match going the distance. But that was not to be.
Though the players were going neck-and-neck in the fourth set,
Sathiyan broke away to lead 3-1. In the fifth, Sharath fought back from 7-9 to hold a set point at 10-9 before Sathiyan again changed gears and made it 10-all with a powerful finish.
In the extended points, Sathiyan forced two successive errors from Sharath to claim the title.
In the women’s final, Yashaswini Ghorpade appeared to sign off her unbeaten run in the championship with another title after leading Reeth Rishya 3-1. But, Reeth found her rhythm and raced away with the last three sets. Once errors crept into Yashaswini’s play and she became increasingly indecisive, Reeth did just enough to become the champion.
The results:
Men: Final: G. Sathiyan (ONGC) bt Sharath Kamal (IOC) 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10.
For third place: Ankur Bhattacharya (OIL) bt Sourav Saha (ONGC) 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 12-10, 11-6.
Women: Final: Reeth Rishya (IOC) bt Yashawini Ghorpade (OIL) 9-11, 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7.
For third place: Divya Deshpande (ONGC) bt Jennifer Varghese (IOC) 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6.
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