Lucknow, Jan 29 (IANS) Anthony Amalraj could not control his emotions after upsetting six-time champion Sharath Kamal for his maiden national table tennis title at the SAI sub-centre here Sunday and stands to lose 25 percent of his prize money for unsporting behaviour. Veteran Poloumi Ghatak beat Shamini Kumaresan to win the women’s crown.
Amalraj got carried away with his celebration after dethroning Kamal 11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8 in an absorbing final. The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board paddler started jumping on the table and in an adrenaline rush, threw his racquet away. Against the protocol, he did not shake hands with the umpires and his World No. 79 opponent. This forced the chief umpire to show him the yellow and then the red card.
Now the World No. 251 could lose 25 per cent of his Rs 2.1 lakh prize money.
“Right after the match, a player is supposed to shake hands with both the player and the umpires. His behaviour at that time was totally unacceptable but later he shook hands with everyone. He came to me and apologised too. But I have recommended the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to penalise him with 25 percent of his prize money,” TTFI competition manager and international referee Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer told IANS.
The final, however, was a thrilling affair. Amalraj, who had beaten Sharath in the inter-institutional championships for the title last year, began confidently and showed his aggressive intent.
Every time he fell behind Sharath, he staged an excellent comeback. He matched Sharath shot for shot and was not afraid to play his attacking game. He was down 6-8 in both the first and second games before pulling it off. In the third, Sharath got a lucky point to be 9-all and could have turned it around. But Amalraj shut out the challenge at 12-10.
Losing the next two, Amalraj became cautious in the sixth game. He scripted a famous win after Sharath failed to return his close-to-the-net serve.
“I had beaten Sharath before in the inter-institutional and my confidence was high. I wanted to continue in the same vein. My coach (S Raman) also motivated a lot today. My national level goal has been achieved and I now want to concentrate on even bigger goal. I am off the Germany to train for the Asian and world championships,” said Amalraj.
Earlier in the women’s final, Poulomi blanked Shamini 11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.
Results:
Men’s singles (final): Amal Raj A (PSPB) bt Sharath Kamal (PSPB) (4-2) 11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8; Semi-finals: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Soumayajit Ghosh (NB) (4-1) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Amal Raj A (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) (4-0) 11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8.
Doubles (final): Sanil Shetty-Amal Raj (PSPB) bt Harmit Desai-Devesh Karia (Guj) (3-2) 12-10, 8-11, 10-11, 11-6, 12-10.
Women’s singles (final): Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Shamini K (PSPB) (4-0) 11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7; Semi-finals: Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (NB) (4-3) 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8; Shamini K (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) (4-1) 11-9, 11-4, 12-10, 13-15, 11-6.
Doubles (final): Shamini K-Mousami Paul (PSPB) bt Anindita Chakraborty-Pallavi Kundu (WB) (3-1) 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10.
