Table Tennis championships: Anthony Amalraj, Manika Batra emerge champs

Hyderabad: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board paddlers Anthony Amalraj and Manika Batra emerged winners in the men’s and women’s singles categories respectively at the National Table Tennis championships at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.

In the men’s summit clash, Anthony defeated G. Sathiyan 4-2 to walk away with the title for the second time. Anthony and Sathiyan came out all guns blazing as the scoreline read 2-2 at the end of the fourth game.

With two games apiece, Anthony broke loose and got into a zone of his own. He took the fifth game 11-4 and followed it up with 11-9 to seal the match.

In the women’s final, Manika had to overcome a stubborn Pooja Sahasrabuddhe, who was not willing to bow out without a fight, eventually defeating her 4-3.

RESULTS (all finals)
Men’s singles: Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 4-2 (11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9).
Men’s doubles: Abhishek Yadav & Sudhanshu Grover (Rajasthan) bt Arjun Ghosh & Anirban Ghosh (West Bengal) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9,11-9).
n Women’s singles: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) 4-3 (11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 14-12).
Women’s doubles: Krittwika Sinha Roy & Mousumi Paul (West Bengal) bt Mouma Das & K. Shamini (PSPB) 3-2 (13-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10).