Ankur Bhattacharjee and Yashaswini Ghorpade were crowned men’s and women’s singles champions at the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships on Sunday, leading India’s dominant campaign in New Delhi.
India finished the tournament with four of the five gold medals on offer, missing out only in the men’s doubles event.
Ankur Stages Dramatic Comeback
Ankur edged past fellow Indian Payas Jain 4-3 in a thrilling men’s singles final.
Trailing 7-4 in the deciding game, Ankur used a timely timeout to halt Payas’ momentum before mounting a superb comeback to level at 8-8. He eventually sealed the title 11-9 after Payas’ final return drifted long.
Yashaswini Outclasses Sreeja
Yashaswini Ghorpade produced a commanding display to defeat Sreeja Akula 4-1 in the women’s singles final.
After racing through the opening two games, Yashaswini recovered from losing the third before holding her nerve in a tense fifth game, saving crucial moments to clinch the title 13-11.
India Wins Four Gold Medals
India also won the women’s doubles title through Sreeja Akula and Syndrela Das, who defeated Yashaswini Ghorpade and Divyanshi Bhowmick 3-1 in an all-Indian final.
Manav Thakkar and Taneesha Kotecha completed the golden haul by fighting back to beat Malaysia’s Ai Xin Tee and Richard Rui Zhe Yap 3-2 in the mixed doubles final.
The only title to elude India came in the men’s doubles, where Malaysia’s Shen Qi Wong and Javen Choong stunned world No. 2 pair Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah in straight games.
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