Gold, silver for gritty Archana

Bengaluru: Archana Kamath emerged runner-up in the women’s singles competition at the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Vadodara on Friday. Karnataka’s Archana, who represented PSPB, lost to Moumita Dutta of the Railways 1-4 (8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 7-11, 6-11) in the final. This was Moumita’s first crown at this level.
Later, Archana combined well with Manav Thakkar (PSPB) to become the first pair to win the mixed doubles title in National ranking events.The duo defeated Ayhika Mukherjee and Raj Mondal (RBI) 3-1 (8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-5) in the final of an event which was introduced in the National ranking meet here.
Archana, who was unseeded in women’s singles, started with the qualification rounds and showed glimpses of her prowess in the earlier rounds.
In a keenly-fought semifinal encounter against Anusha Kutumbale of MP, she raised her game when she was 0-2 down to clinch the third 14-12 on her third game point. The win kept her in the match.
In the final, Moumita, a promising player from her junior days, played a percentage game and converted all the negative points to her advantage, despite losing the second game after the deuce. Yashaswini Ghorpade of Karnataka too settled for the silver medal, losing to Suhana Saini of Haryana 8-11, 2-11, 12-14, 9-11 in the Youth girls (U-19) final. Yashaswini showed some character in the third game and made Suhana fight for points. But it was futile as Suhana won the game on extended point. Local boy Manush kept his date with destiny to beat Sudhanshu Grover of Delhi 4-2 in the men's singles final. Payas Jain of Delhi claimed the U-19 boys' title, edging out Jash Modi of Maharashtra 4-3.
Select results: Women’s singles: Final: Archana Kamath (PSPB) lost to Moumita Dutta (RSPB) 8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 7-11, 6-11. Semis: Archana bt Anusha Kutumbale (MP) 5-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7. Quarters: bt Kaushani Nath (RSPB) 11-2, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4. Mixed doubles: Final: Manav Thakkar / Archana Kamath (PSPB) bt Raj Mondal / Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-5. Semis: bt Diya Chitale (Mah A) / Snehit (AAI) 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-13, 11-0. Quarters: bt Priyadarshini Das / Aniket Sen Choudhury (Bengal A) 11-3, 11-8, 11-6. Youth Girls U-19: Final: Yashaswini Ghorpade (Kar) lost to Suhana Saini (Har) 8-11, 2-11, 12-14, 9-11. Semis: Suhana bt Anargya Manjunath (Kar) 11-7, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9; Yashaswini bt Taneesha Kotecha (AAI) 11-9, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5. Quarters: Yashaswini bt Lakshita Narang (Dli) 13-11, 10-12, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9.