June 17, 2010
Indian Players Complete First Stage on High Note in New Delhi
 A fine finish for Soumyajit Ghosh but it was disappointment Photo By: tabletennisphotos.com |
Courtesy of ITTF Notably, there were fine performances from Sanil Shetty, Soumyajit Ghosh, Sourav Chakraborty, Amalraj Anthony, Subhajit Saha and Abishek Ravichandran. |
All concluded their group matches in positive mode with Sanil Shetty and Soumyajit Ghosh, in particular, finding their best form after rather indifferent performances one day earlier.
Sanil Shetty
Sanil Shetty, after losing to Belgium’s Yannick Vostes on the first day of play in five games, found his very best form to beat Korea’s Kim Gang Woong in four straight games, the player who on his first visit to the table had defeated Vostes in six games.
One win for each player, the dynamic performance of the Indian secured first place in the group on games ratio, with Yannick Vostes in second spot. Kim Gang Woong was the player to miss out.
The players finishing in first and second places in each group progress to the main draw.
Games Ratio Dooms Soumyajit Ghosh
However, the mathematics were not so kind on Soumyajit Ghosh.
He beat Malaysia’s Muhd Shakirin Ibrahim in seven games but having lost to Singapore’s Cai Xiao Li in five games on the first day of play, the result doomed the 17 year old Indian to third place in the group.
Muhd Shakirin Ibrahim finished in second place behind Cai Xiao Li, having defeated the Singaporean in six games in his opening match.
Subhajit Saha Hits Form
However, for the other Indian men in form it was better news with 28 year old Subhajit Saha, the man to take centre stage.
He concluded his group matches with a splendid six games win over Belgium’s Benjamin Rogiers, the seventh highest world ranked player in action in the first stage of proceedings.
The consolation for Rogiers was the same as for his compatriot, Yannick Vostes, he finished the group in second place and thus progressed to the main draw.
Amalraj Anthony Continues in Impressive Fashion
Good form from Subhajit Saha and likewise Amalraj Anthony maintained the form he had shown on the opening day, when beating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, the 2009 World Junior Boys’ Singles champion.
The 24 year old Indian defeated colleague Devesh Karia in five games to maintain his unbeaten record. Chen Chien-An by recording a straight games win over Aniket Koparkar finished in second spot.
Similar
Similarly, Abishek Ravichandran maintained his fine form of the opening day; in his opening match he had beaten colleague, Soumyadeep Roy in six games to cause an upset, Roy being the eighth highest world ranked player in action in the first stage of matters and a regular member of the Indian National Team.
Abishek Ravichandran overcame German teenager, Philip Floritz in six games to top the group unbeaten with the 18 year old German in second spot.
Alas for Soumaydeep Roy it was an experience he will want to forget; he was beaten by both Abishek Ravichandran and Philip Floritz while also losing to Korea’s Yoo Hoon Suk. Fourth place in the group was his lot.
Sourav Chakraborty
Sadness for Soumyadeep Roy and in the case of Sourav Chakraborty it was victory over 17 year old colleague, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran that secured place in the group and a passport to the next stage.
Chakraborty won in six games, Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu having beaten both Chakraborty and Gnanasekaran on the first day of play, finished the group in first place.
Anirban Nandi
Second place and through to the main draw was a welcome reward for Sourav Chakraborty as it was for compatriot, Anirban Nandi. The win over team mate Kumar Jubin on the first day of play was sufficient to secure runners up spot behind Korea’s Han Ji Min who topped the group beating both Jubin and Nandi.
Disappointment
Six Indian players from the eight groups through to the main draw; only two groups did not see an Indian player progress. In addition to Soumyajit Ghosh, Pathik Mehta failed to progress, he was beaten by both Singapore’s Liu Zhongze and Korea’s Seo Jung Hwa.
Liu Zhongze, the third highest world ranked player in action, headed the group with Seo Jung Hwa in second spot.
| Download the latest Flash Player to view content. |