Silver lining for Soumyajit, Mouma

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Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das began the day with an upset win but failed to continue the momentum, settling for the silver in the mixed doubles final as India were assured of six other medals at the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here on Thursday.
Ghosh and Mouma, the brightest stars of the Indian camp early in the day following their surprise win over top seeds from Singapore Yang Zi and Yu Mengyu in the semi-finals, were thrashed by another Singapore duo of Jian Zhan and Yihan Zhou 0-3 (3-11, 15-13, 7-11) in the day’s last match.
The Indians had overcame the top seed Singaporeans with a 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 12-10) scoreline in their semi-final clash.
In a lop-sided final, the Singapore pair stayed ahead right from the start — pocketing the first two games — even as the home paddlers tried to claw their way in.
In the third, Ghosh and Mouma were ahead 7-3 but could not hold on to the lead losing 11-7.
“They were too fast and we could not match their pace. They were a lot better than the top seeds,” said Ghosh after the loss.
Earlier in the day, Mouma and Shamini Kumaresan, besides Neha Aggarwal and Madhurika Patkar, assured the country of two medals winning their respective quarter-final matches.
Later, former champion Achanta Sharath Kamal (singles, doubles) and Manika Batra joined them in the medals section.
Sharath Kamal had to battle past a spirited Zi Yang of Singapore in the singles tie as the latter stretched it to seven games.
In an edge-of-the-seat encounter, the 69th-ranked Indian managed to have the last laugh 4-3 (11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8).
Sharath Kamal had earlier paired up with Subhajit Saha to make the last-4 stage.
However, the day belonged to veteran Mouma who assured India of two medals in the women’s doubles and the singles events.
Mouma along with Shamini Kumaresan overcame Malaysia’s Lee Wei Beh and Sock Khim NG 3-1 (11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7), and then returned to beat England’s Joanna Parkar 4-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11) in the singles quarter-final rubber.
Neha Aggarwal and Madhurika Patkar also booked a place in the last-4 stage of the women’s doubles, dispatching compatriots Divya Deshpande and Pooja Sahasrabudhe 3-0 (12-10, 11-4, 11-3).
Delhi girl Manika Batra also made it to the women’s singles semi-finals beating compatriot Pooja 4-1 (11-10, 11-5, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4).