Basak overwhelms Korean

PUNE, Nov 14: Indian paddlers made waves when two of their players qualified for the knock-out stage of 14th Asian Cup Table Tennis Champio...

PUNE, Nov 14: Indian paddlers made waves when two of their players qualified for the knock-out stage of 14th Asian Cup Table Tennis Championship, at the Balewadi Sports Complex, here, today.

Arup Basak set the tone on the otherwise dull day for the hosts when he cruised past Iranian Behnam Rahmatpanah 21-12, 21-10 and later won a cliff-hanger against formidable Choi Hyun Jin from Korea 21-17, 17-21, 21-10 which assured him a place in the last eight.

Top seed Chetan Baboor, with a world ranking of 126, had a relatively easy opening round against Hosoi Kohei (Japan) to post a 21-16, 21-11 win.

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Earlier, NR Indu and National junior champion Abhijit Saha lost both their opening ties. World No 37 Kim Boon Sik (Korea) took just 13 minutes to subdue Indu 21-11, 21-14 in the womens Group B.Likwise, on the adjacent table, National Junior Champion Abhijit Saha went down to a superior Liu T Teh (Chinese Taipei) 21-18, 21-11 after giving his opponent a run for his money in the first game.

Baboor began his Group C campaign rather sedately against Hosoi Kobei (Japan) conceeding five quick points the gap continuing till the halfway mark of the encounter. Aided by some fine placements and smashes, Baboor suddenly brought life into his game, winning five points in a row to inch ahead at 16-14. This juncture proved to be the turning point of the game as the Indian kept up the good work to win the game 21-16 in an encounter lasting just under eight minutes.

The second game saw Baboor sustain his fine form to reap dividends as he wrapped up the game, and with it the match, at 21-11 in just five minutes.Top-seeded Wang Chen (China), ranked No 5 in the world, demolished Takahashi Miyoko (Japan) 21-9, 21-12.

In the only upset of the day, fourth seed Jun Hye Kynng (Korea), ranked 66 in the world, was toppled by young Chinese girl Jhang Yining. Jhang Yining, who replaced the injured, seventh-ranked Yang Ying, won 19-21, 21-12, 21-19.

RESULTS

Men’s singles league Round II

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Group A: Lui The (Taipei) bt Ogaki Tomohiko (Japan) 21-15, 21-12; Lin Zhigang (China) bt Subhajit Saha (India) 21-15, 21-18. Group B: Guo Keli (China) bt S Raman (India) 21-11, 21-08. Group C: Leung Chuyan (Hong Kong) bt Hosoi (Japan) 21-13, 21-15. Group D: Chand Yuan Su (Taipei) bt Behnam Rahmatpanah (Iran) 21-13, 19-21, 21-12; Arup Basak (India) bt Choi Hyun Jin (Korea) 21-17, 17-21, 21-10.

Women’s league Round II

Group A: Takahashi Miyoko (Japan) bt B Bhuwaneshwari (India) 18-21, 21-8, 21-8. Group B: Tsui Hsui Li (Taipei) bt NR Indu (India) 21-10, 21-10. Group C: Sato Motoko (Japan) bt MS Mythili (India) 21-13, 21-16. Group D: Song Au Sim (Hong Kong) bt Jhang Yining (China) 21-15, 21-16.

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