Baboor-Raman retain Commonwealth crown

The victory for the Indian pair, seeded second in the men’s doubles behind the Canadians, was especially sweet since Huang had denied the Indians the doubles title in 1994 at Hyderabad.

Huang, then partnered by Gideon Joe Ng, had beaten Baboor and Sujay Ghorpade in the semi-final, and then Kamlesh Mehta, the current Indian coach, and Arup Basak in the final.

The Indians put on a polished display right through. Basak was especially effective with his forehand drives, giving plenty of trouble to the relatively inexperienced Kurt Liu.

The 37-year-old Huang proved quite a handful for Raman to start with but as the game wore, the left-handed Indian seemed to find his rhythm and was attacking at every opportunity.

The Indians never trailed in the opening and pulled from 8-7 to lead 16-9 and wrapped the game at 21-14. The second was more closely contested, but Baboor and Raman never relented, winning 21-16 without much ado.

Baboor has also made the quarter-finals of the event where he faces Nigerian Segun Totiola for a last-four berth.

MAUMA, POULOMI BOW OUT: On a day of mixed fortunes, National champion Mauma Das and her predecessor Poulomi Ghatak crashed to defeats while Anindita Chakraborty and Mantu Ghosh kept Indian hopes alive in the women’s section.

Das and Ghatak received a rude shock when they were ousted in the women’s singles first round by Singapore paddlers, and talented NR Indu became the third casualty for India at the 14th edition of the championships.

Das put up a good fight in the first game but her resistance was quelled by Tan Paey Fern of Singapore after the Indian had won 14 points. The next two games were more easier for Fern, who won 21-14 21-8 21-10.

Ghatak was at her best in the first game against Xu Yan and Hung on till 20-20 before Yan broke away to take the game 24-22. Ghatak then paid for her lack of concentration, losing the tie 22-24 9-21 19-21.

Chakraborty outclassed June Kyakobye of Uganda 21-10 22-20 21-13 to bring some cheer to the Indian camp.

Ghosh rallied to beat Canadian Petra Cada with the fourth game going the distance — both sharing 58 points between them.

Ghosh eventually emerged winner 15-21 24-22 21-12 30-28 in one of the longest matches of the championships.

The other Indian in the fray — NR Indu — lost to Aussie Stella Zhou 19-21 9-21 16-21.