Unsavoury end mars Basak’s brilliance

Mysore, June 9: It was the most unsporting end to what should have been another epic battle between India's two best players. Bengal's Arup...

Mysore, June 9: It was the most unsporting end to what should have been another epic battle between India’s two best players. Bengal’s Arup Basak, the defending champion in the men’s singles, added another an unpleasant episode to his rivalry with National champion Chetan Baboor of Karnataka by virtually giving away the last five points of the man’s singles final in fourth National Games at the Chamundi Vihar Indoor Stadium here on Monday. Baboor won the match 19-21, 27-29, 21-18, 21-19, 21-10.In the women’s section second seed N.R. Indu toppled her top-seeded compatriot from Tamil Nadu M.S. Mythili in four games 21-16, 15-21, 21-9, 22-20.

Down 10-15 in the fifth and final game, Basak displayed contempt at his rival and those officiating the match, making a mess of all his five serves to give Baboor a `bonus’ 20-10 lead. Baboor cashed in on the chance to win the match and bag the gold, his second in the tournament after the men’s doubles title which he won in Bona Thomas John’s company on Sunday.Basak, the National No. 2, who disputed a line-call at 1-1 in the first game did well to take the first game at 21-19. But, the fight got fiercer in the second game as Baboor won five successive points from 15-20 to take the game into extra points. The battle of attrition continued till 27-27 before Baboor faltered to give Basak the advantage.

hen Baboor returned from the break after the second game, he showed more aggression and won the third game. Then, the match took an ugly turn, after both players managed to remain neck-and-neck. At that point, Basak netted to make it 19-all, but then claimed that he had done so because Baboor’s serve was not correct as it had kissed the net.There was a lot of commotion and as Basak went around the table vociferously protesting umpire G Manoharan’s ruling.

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Even the intervention of chief referee A.M. Lele and competition director Hukam Singh failed to get Basak to resume play. Finally, it was Basak’s PSCB colleagues S Sriram and S Ramaswamy who convinced Basak to come back.But, by then, his concentration had suffered.

He not only lost that game, but was also completely overwhelmed by a composed Baboor in the fifth.It was after the fifth change-over, Baboor’s third, that the match reached its ugliest part with Basak `conceding’ five points to give his rival the match point, which was duly converted.Earlier, Indu seized a 16-9 in the first game of the women’s singles final, to win the game. The second game saw Mythili at her best, when she beat her rival with excellent top spins. But, the third was Indu’s as the charming 21-year-old raced off to 4-1 lead.In the fourth, a lucky edge at 19-19, gave Indu the match point, but Mythili brought the score on par.But it was Indu’s day, as she won the match point despite a feeble return.

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