LAHORE, May 4: While dominating in both team and individual events in the International Master Cup Table Tennis, Indian men and women on Sunday were on the brink of a clean sweep in the tournament underway here at Wapda Sports Complex.
After winning the teams’ event finals, all the three men and equal number of women from the neighbouring country have also made it to the last four in the individual category.
In the men’s team events, India routed Wapda in straight matches to win the final, while the Indian women earned the title by proving themselves to be far too good for the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) side. Both finals were decided in three straight matches.
In the men’s final only Deverh Karia went to four sets against Asim Qureshi, before winning the first singles 11-9, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9. Anirban Nandi defeated Saleem Abbas and the pair of Jubin and Karia outclassed Saleem and Asim easily to seal the fate of the final.
In the women’s category, they defeated the bankers without losing any game.
In the singles section, all the Indian players won their quarter-final with ease as the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation’s (PTTF) decision of fielding players from its affiliated units against India’s national players seemed to serve no purpose.
Results:
Men’s final: India bt Wapda ‘A’ 3-0 (Deverh Karia bt Asim Qureshi 11-9, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9; Anirban Nandi bt Saleem Abbas 11-2, 11-5, 12-10; Jubin/Karia bt Saleem/Asim 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).
Men’s team events:
Semi-finals:
India bt Punjab 3-0 (Jubin Kumar bt Rafiq Shardi 11-5, 11-6, 11-7; Anirban Nandi bt Abdul Raheem 11-6, 11-7, 11-4; Jubin/Karia bt Rafiq-Raheem 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4).
Wapda ‘A’ bt Habib Bank 3-1 (Yasir Iqbal bt Bilal Yasin 5-11, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11; Asim Qureshi bt Asim Aziz 11-3, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4; Saleem/Asim bt Yasir/Asim 11-7, 11-5, 11-6; Asim Qureshi bt Yasir Iqbal 11-7, 11-3, 11-4).
Women’s team events:
Final:
India bt Habib Bank 3-0 (Susmita bt Sadia Yaseen 11-6, 11-6, 11-4; Mausumi bt Shabnam 11-8, 11-7, 11-9; Susmita/Mausmi bt Shama/Sadia 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.
Semi-finals:
India bt NWFP 3-0 (Mansi Bhagwat bt Shazia Tariq 11-3, 11-6, 11-8; Susmita bt Shamila 11-1, 11-3, 11-5; Susmita/M. Paul bt Shazia/Shamila 11-3, 11-2, 11-5).
Habib Bank bt Wapda ‘B’ 3-0 (Sadia Yaseen bt Loaiza Irshad 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 14-12; Shabnam Bilal bt Shabnam 11-4, 11-5, 11-4; Shama/Sadia bt Loaiza/Naila 11-9, 11-8, 11-2).
Men’s singles:
Quarter-finals: Debesh Karia (India) bt Asim Munir 11-4, 11-4, 11-9; Anirban Nandi (India) bt Sujat Ali 11-4, 11-2, 11-3; Jubin Kumar (Ind) bt Asim Qureshi 11-5, 11-9, 11-9; Saleem Abbas bt Yasir Iqbal 11-9, 11-8, 12-10.
Women’s singles:
Quarter-finals: Sushmita Ray (India) bt Mobeen Hanif 11-3, 11-3, 11-6; Mausumi Pal (India) bt Shabnam Bilal 11-5, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5; Sadia Falaksher bt Sadia Yaseen 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7; Mansi Bhagwat (India) bt Louiza Irashad 11-5, 11-2, 11-5.