Mouma Das and Soumyajit Ghosh captured silver medal in the mixed doubles at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships on Thursday. This is the day on which India hauled at least six other medals.
Indian top player Achanta Sharath Kamal won himself a medal after sneaking past old Singapore opponent Yang Zi by 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 for a position in the semifinals. Losing in the semifinals across categories will yield a bronze.
Defending men's doubles champions Subhajit Saha and Sharath successfully entered the last four by thrashing Nigerian duo Oiajide Omotayo and Ojo Onaolapo in straight games. Apart from the mixed doubles silver medal, veteran Mouma hauled two more medals by attaining the semifinals of the singles and doubles events. She crushed higher-ranked Joanna Parker of England by 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11 and grouped up with Shamini Kumaresan to win another quarterfinal. Manika Batra defeated compatriot Pooja Sahasrabudhe in her singles during last eight match, scoring a 12-10, 11-5, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4 victory.
Two medals are anticipated from Neha Aggarwal and Madhurika Patkar who have also advanced to the semifinals in the women's doubles. Mouma-Shamini sneaked past Malaysia's Lee Wei Beh and Sock Khim NG by 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7 while the Neha-Madhurika duo dismissed compatriots Divya Deshpande and Pooja Sahasrabudhe by 12-10, 11-4, 11-3.
The day ended with the mixed doubles final and it resulted in a one-sided affair. Zhan Jian and Zhou Yihan of Singapore were too good for Ghosh and Mouma, winning the crown with a dashing 11-3, 13-11, 11-7 scoreline. Expectations from the Indians were high, who banged top seeds from Singapore, Yang Zi and Yu Mengyu by 11-9, 11-6, 12-10 in the semifinals.
Ghosh disclosed that they hammered the top seeds but their ultimate opponents were too brisk. Actually they played well. He and Mouma were spearheading by 7-3 during the third game before losing the next eight points.
Sharath's clash against Yang Zi left the spectators on the edge of their seats. The World No. 69 managed the first game until the Singaporean made a significant return to win the next three. The competition headed into the seventh deciding game where Sharath took a vital 6-4 lead. After a few more fiercely contested points, it finally reached 8-8. Sharath had the lead of his serve but it was the fantastic forehand retrieve that had fired him up, making it 10-8. He triumphed after striking a sizzling forehand winner.
A relaxed Sharath claimed that the point which made 10-8 worked for him.
To add feather to the hat, India also won a silver and bronze in the team championships which concluded on Wednesday. With only one day left in the tournament, India has won nine medals, exceeding the last edition's count of seven.
