Other Events | 19 Dec 2015

Titles for India and Singapore in Surat

2015 Commonwealth Championships

Two wins from Soumyajit GHOSH and one from Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN secured gold for the host nation in the Men’s Team event at the 2015 Commonwealth Championships in Surat, India, whilst Singapore clinched the Women’s Team title.

India, the second seeds, a three matches to one success was posted against England, the no.3 seeds, to secure the title. David MCBEATH gave England the ideal start by recovering from a two games to nil deficit to beat Harmeet DESAI in a full distance five games encounter (9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9), before Soumyajit GHOSH accounted for Helshan WEERASINGHE (11-7, 11-4, 11-7) to level matters. Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN extended the Indian advantage by overcoming Tom JARVIS (11-3, 11-6, 11-5) to set the stage for Soumyajit GHOSH to conclude matters; he duly obliged by beating David MCBEATH in four games (11-6, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8).

Defeat for England but earlier in the day they had caused a major upset by beating top seeds, Singapore, in their concluding second group stage contest. They recorded a three-two win, a result which meant England advanced to the final, whilst for Singapore, they had to settle for a third place contest against Northern Ireland. Singapore with Pang Xue Jie in the line-up beat the Northern Ireland trio of Zak WILSON, Ashley ROBINSON and Owen CATHCART, the no.6 seeds, by three matches to nil to secure third place. Both Singapore and Northern Ireland received bronze medals.

Winner of the Under 21 Women’s Singles title at the recently concluded GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Spain’s capital city of Lisbon; LIN Ye alongside colleague ZHOU Yihan guided Singapore to the Women’s Team title. Both remained unbeaten throughout the whole campaign as they guided the top seeds to gold.
At the final hurdle a three-one success was recorded against, India, the no.2 seeds, with LIN Ye setting the south east Asian city state on the road to victory.

Earlier in the day, at the semi-final stage, fielding the same three players, Singapore had beaten the Welsh trio of Chloe THOMAS, Charlotte CAREY and Megan PHILLIPS, the no.9 seeds, by three matches to nil; whilst at the same time, India had accounted for England, the no.3 seeds, with the loss of just one individual match. Mainstay of the Indian success was Manika BATRA. She accounted for both Larine Le FEVRE (11-4, 11-5, 11-6) and Tin-Tin HO (11-5, 11-5, 11-7). The one further win for India was recorded by Ankita DAS in the second match of the fixture against Tin-Tin HO (12-10, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9) whilst for England the one success was secured by Maria TSAPTSINOS.In the third match of the engagement, she defeated Shamini KUMARESAN (11-8, 11-7, 11-7).

England duly secured third place beating Wales by three matches to one with Maria TSAPTSINOS the player to catch the eye. She accounted for both Chloe THOMAS (11-7, 11-8, 11-4) and Charlotte CAREY (11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9).Karina Le FEVRE added the one further English win by overcoming Megan PHILLIPS in the third match of the fixture (11-6, 11-6, 11-8), whilst for Wales the one success was recorded in the opening contest when Charlotte CAREY defeated Tin-Tin HO (11-9, 11-13, 11-4, 11-8).