With the sun probably starting to set on the glittering career of India’s table tennis talisman Achanta Sharath Kamal, fans at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium were on Friday reminded that it may not be long until Indian table tennis sees the dawn of a new day, ushered in by the likes of a promising 24-year-old Manav Thakkar.
On matchday nine of the Ultimate Table Tennis, Chennai Lions, the home team, was pipped 7-8 by U Mumba TT. But the scoreline paints less than half-the-picture.
A 3-0 loss in mixed doubles for the Lions would have dented the confidence of the entire dugout. Or so one would have thought.
Sharath’s indomitable spirit comes to fore
But then the old warhorses in Sharath and Mouma Das had different plans. They were not to go down without a fight.
In the men’s singles fixture, Thakkar would have thought he had age on his side when he went up against Sharath, the leader of the same Indian side he was part of at the Olympics.
They were familiar with each other’s playing styles but this was the same Sharath, who had stunned World No. 13 Darko Jorgic earlier this year in the Singapore Smash.
The veteran, incidentally, bagged the first game without breaking a sweat, playing deep into Thakkar’s backhand, a weakness his opponents have often tried to exploit.
But then, Thakkar upped his counter-attacking game to make Sharath work hard for his points. Sharath, however, never fell out of contention and at one point in the third game, proceeded to take Thakkar for a wild ride in a 17-shot rally.
The 10-time national champion kept back-pedalling in response to the former’s forehand smashes to ultimately force an error from the Gujarat lad, the winner getting the crowd to deliver a standing ovation.
Sharath drew points off a few streaky touches from Thakkar as well but couldn’t avoid conceding the matchpoint. As the Lions skipper walked in for the customary handshake, Thakkar was seen looking up to the skies and thanking his gods.
Out of breath, Thakkar knew he had been pushed to the limit by a man who had seen the world for 18 more years.
Super Mouma almost gets over the line
With Chennai trailing 7-5 ahead of the final fixture, Maria Xiao had the job of nabbing one game off the opponent to secure the tie. On the other corner was Mouma, now a doting mother, who had last featured in an international in 2018. In UTT itself, she had been warming the bench for reigning national champion Poymantee Baisya to enjoy the limelight.
But Chennai coaches Tobias Bergman and Subin Kumar thought it would be wise to give the five-time National Championship winner some gametime after Baisya could only bag one of the six games she has played.
Armed with the traditional tomahawk, a service that imparts sidespin to the ball, Mouma made the World No. 65 look like a fish struggling for life at the end of a hook. With pinpoint placements, Mouma tore through the Spanish paddler, taking the first two games 11-10, 11-8. With the tie score level at 7-7, the match trickled to the very last point, making it anybody’s game. Mouma, however, ended up sending a backhand down the line and out of the table to hand Mumba the win.
A for Ankur, A for Aggression
Aggression met aggression when Ankur Bhattacharjee and Andreas Levenko locked horns in the second tie of the day, which saw Dabang Delhi TTC beat Puneri Paltan Table Tennis 11-4.
But at this point, it has become difficult for the 17-year-old to put one step wrong in the competition. The Kolkata teen continued to weave his magic on the table, now having won eight of the nine games he has played.
What immensely helps the Paltan’s Ankur deceive his opponents is the kicker serve, a topspin service that is disguised as a pendulum serve.
Despite that loss, captain Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s spirited show in both the singles and mixed doubles (alongside Orawan Paranang) ensured Dabang had the most comfortable of cushions worth six points and eventually an easy victory.
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