In spite of tough competition coming from top veteran players representing countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, Taipei, Philipines, Mangolia, Nepal, Korea and others, our Indian women in 50+ age group performed well in Asia Pacific Veterans’ TT Championship which concluded in Bangkok last Sunday.
Moonmoon Mukherjee in particular, was the only Indian woman to bag a Bronze medal in Women’s 50+ individual event. Moonmoon lost to her Chinese opponent in semi finals. Later, while playing for Team India 50+ along with Kanchan Basak, Shilpa Joshi & Geeta Tandon her team bagged another Bronze, after losing to Chinese woimen’s 50+ team in semi finals. In the semi final event in this age group there were three Chinese teams, which clearly indicated their dominance in this tournament. However, the Indian women’s team was in a happy mood with their performance. In particular, Moonmoon Mukherjee expressed her happiness with this big achievement. “I am thankful to Kanchan Basak for winning crucial matches for the team. She really played well,” she added.
In the 60+ age group team events Indian women comprising of Mantu Murmu and Mangal Saraf lost in Women’s 60+ quarter finals, while the strong Men’s team comprising of Vinay Chopra, Sunil Babras, Anil Rasam and Rajesh Mudam also lost in Men’s 60+ quarter finals. In the individual event of this age group Mangal Saraf lost in Pre Quarter finals of Women’s 60+ singles . Vinay Chopra lost in the 4th round of Men’s 60+ Singles.
There was a big disappointment from Indian 40+ Men and Women, as most of them either lost in qualifying rounds or initial rounds of main draw. However, in the Men’s 70+ Singles, Ulhas Shirke was the only player in Men’s section to reach Pre Quarter finals, winning against players from Malaysia, Thailand, India & Hong Kong. He, however lost 1-3 to 3rd seeded China player after putting up a good fight. In the 70+ men’s team championship, Ulhas along with Suresh Kumar and Sitaram Gamre managed well to win against Thailand 3-2 to qualify for the main draw, with Ulhas winning both his singles and decider won by Suresh Kumar. Their team however lost to Singapore in the pre quarter finals of Men’s 70+ team event.
The players from China dominated in individual and team events. They excelled with their tricky services and use of rubbers suited to their game. Most of them played with pen holder grips and caught their opponents on the wrong foot with their deceptive counter attack and placements during the rallies. Dr.Jayendra Kapadia from Gujarat who had taken part in the Men’s 70+ event, narrated his observation on Chinese players. “ The Chinese players were very quick with their reflexes. Their wrist played wonders while serving. It was very difficult to judge the direction of the ball in their long services. The second bounce of their service used be either close to the net or on the edge line. They attack consistently and never missed their shots,” he said.
The overall competition was well organised. About 900 + players from 20 countries including India and China had taken part. But, holding individual events on first two days, followed by team events was not well accepted by many players. Also, the names of all Chinese players mentioned in the draw sheet in their language and not mentioned in English language like other country players, was criticised by many players from other countries.