National Games | Maiden table tennis titles for Jash and Selena

Maharashtra’s Jash Modi and Tamil Nadu’s Selena Deepthi Selvakumar, the men’s and women’s singles winners of the National Games table tennis in Dehradun on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Stan Rayan

Three years ago, when Jash Modi last played Olympian G. Sathiyan, he had lost 4-0. But on Thursday, the Maharashtra youngster came up with an inspired show. He bounced back after losing the first two games to upset the top seed from Tamil Nadu 4-3 and win the men’s singles gold in the 38th National Games table tennis at the Parade Ground indoor stadium here on Thursday.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu’s Selena Deepthi Selvakumar kept her cool under pressure and took the women’s gold with a 4-3 victory over Maharashtra’s second-seeded Swastika Ghosh. She was trailing 1-5 in the decider but fought her way back to win her first big National title. The victory also saw the 25-year-old Selena emulate her mother Arul Selvi who had won the singles title at the 1994 National Games in Mumbai.

Jash appeared fresh and determined against the seasoned Sathiyan in the men’s final.

“I didn’t want to give him easy points, he needed to earn every point from me,” said the 18-year-old after his maiden National Games triumph.

Sathiyan won the first two games comfortably, nicely varying the pace of his shots. But once Jash settled down, it became difficult as the Maharashtra youngster won three games in a row and a little later took the final to the decider..

Tamil Nadu’s G. Sathiyan and A. Amalraj won the men’s doubles title.
| Photo Credit:
Stan Rayan

“In the decider, I was just trying to play more and more of my forehand because I was getting points from my forehand,” said Jash.

The women’s final also went the same way. Selena took the first two games but allowed Swastika to bounce back and win the next three. And in the decider, down 1-5, she levelled at six and won the thriller.

“If I attack, I will get points, but I didn’t get much of a chance to attack in the third and fourth games…later on, I knew what I had to do and did that,” said Selena.

The results: Men: Final: Jash Modi (Mah) bt G. Sathiyan (TN) 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11- 8, 14-12, 6-11, 11-6. Semifinals: Sathiyan bt P.B. Abhinand (TN) 12-10, 18-20, 11-3, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4; Jash bt Payas Jain (Del) 7-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9.

Doubles: Final: Sathiyan & A. Amalraj (TN) bt P.B. Abhinand & S. Preyesh Raj (TN) 8-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7.

Women: Final: Selena Deepthi Selvakumar (TN) bt Swastika Ghosh (Mah) 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9. Semifinals: Selena bt Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 7-11, 16-14, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6; Swastika bt Shriya Anand (TN) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6.

Doubles: Final: Swastika & Diya Chitale (Mah) bt Nithyashree Mani & Kavyashree Baskar (TN) 6-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6.

Mixed doubles: Final: Anirban Ghosh & Sutirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Chinmaya Somaiya & Reeth Rishya (Mah) 10-12, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-2.