Ramaswamy plays the imperfect host

MUMBAI, JULY 25: S Ramaswamy, after more than 25 years in the circuit, still managed to teach the pretenders a lesson at the Matunga Gymk...

MUMBAI, JULY 25: S Ramaswamy, after more than 25 years in the circuit, still managed to teach the pretenders a lesson at the Matunga Gymkhana State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament today.

Seeded fifth, he defeated top seed Nachiket Chawathe 23-21, 16-21, 21-11, 16-21, 21-14 in the men’s final after Mallika Parekh had achieved a not-so-unusual double. This was Ramaswamy’s fourth senior title at what he calls his home tournament.’ He has also one sub-junior and three junior crowns at the Gymkhana.

Mallika won the women’s and girls’ crowns, beating twice-unlucky Mamata Prabhu in both. She won the women’s final 21-19, 21-12, 18-21, 24-22 after claiming the girls’ final 17-21, 16-21, 21-18, 21-10, 21-18, which Mamata looked like winning till the middle of the second game. Aditya Mahagaonkar took the boys’ crown, demolishing Mitesh Puranik 21-18, 21-8, 21-19, playing shots on both flanks with such force and precision that his opponent was reduced to a mere spectator.

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If Mallika made more mistakes in the firsttwo games, she did little better in the last three. Not that Mamata’s game ever broke down. Things were level till 17-17 in the third game before Mamata hit a forehand out. A lucky forehand by Mallika that kissed the edge of the table shook Mamata enough for the girl to commit two errors. And enough for Mallika to announce her revival.

The revival started off in style. The fourth game was the only one-sided one, setting the stage for a grand finale.

Evenly poised at 13-13, the goodly crowd that stuffed itself into the Gymkhana auditorium could now look eagerly for a finish before rushing out for a breath of fresh air. A blinding backhand across the table tilted the balance just that little towards Mallika. One another lucky edge, then another and Mamata could not be faulted for feeling a little bit cheated. Her backhand landed into the net, and then Mallika ended with a forehand flourish.

Results (seedings in prefix)

Men’s singles (final): 5-S Ramaswamy bt 1-Nachiket Chawathe 23-21, 16-21,21-11, 16-21, 21-14. Semi-finals: Nachiket Chawathe bt Mahendra Chiplunkar 21-17, 22-20, 21-18; S Ramaswamy bt Abhijit Sarwate 21-16, 21-9, 13-21, 21-19.

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Boys’ final: 1-Aditya Mahagaonkar bt 4-Mitesh Puranik 21-18, 21-8, 21-19. Semi-finals: Mahagaonkar bt 3-Ankur Mahajan 21-18, 21-12, 21-17; Puranik bt 2-Eric Fernandes 21-23, 21-17, 21-18, 11-21, 21-13.

Women’s final: 1-Mallika Parekh bt 2-Mamata Prabhu 21-19, 21-12, 8-21, 24-22. Semi-finals: Mallika bt 4-Shalmali Mhatre 21-13, 21-15, 21-5; Mamata bt 3-Radhika Ghatnekar 21-16, 20-22, 21-15, 21-17.

Girls’ final: 1-Mallika Parekh bt 2-Mamata Prabhu 17-21, 16-21, 21-18, 21-10, 21-18. Semi-finals: Mallika bt Kshipra Gogate 21-17, 21-12, 21-14; Mamata bt Aditi Jagannathan 21-11, 21-8, 21-15.