Raman, Pradeepa win crowns

Sharath Kamal, who saw his dream run come to an end in the semi-final against Raman earlier in the day, made some amends by winning the men’s doubles championship with Bhushan Thakur. The duo beat Deepak Thukral and Vineet Chopra.

Poulomi Ghatak, after a dismal performance in the tournament, too had something to smile as she shared the women’s doubles title with Mouma Das, defeating N R Indu and M S Mythili. The mixed doubles title went to Arup basak and Mouma Das as the pair accounted for Bhushan Thakur and Sushmita Roy.

Raman surged ahead with a 5-0 lead in the first game, although he was not in his elements as he struggled to get his serve right. However, the intitial lead came in handy as he wrapped up the game. Things did not go right for Roy, who conceded lead again in the second game as Raman went 8-4 up. But the national champion staged a remakable rally to level the scores at 9-9. From here, in a fiery exchange that followed he won 12-10.

But in the third game Raman came up with some variation in his serves that upset Roy’s rhythm as he built a 9-3 advantage. Once again Roy rallied well, taking five straight points to level 10-10 but this time Raman kept it tight and won 12-10. Roy then suddenly found his blocks deserting him even as Raman intensified his attack. There was a semblance of a fight when Roy managed a slender 10-8 lead in the fifth but Raman, enjoying a more than partisan support from the crowd, quickly poured water on his hopes to clinch the game and championship.

Montu shone in patches. She, no doubt, grabbed the initiative but her undoing was the inconsistency. Pradeepa was, however, solid and seemed content to allow her opponent to do things even as she kept her chance going.