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Commonwealth TT: Harmeet Desai steals spotlight from stars in India's golden show

Gujarat paddler stuns favourite Sathiyan to clinch singles gold; hosts bag 15 medals

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Harmeet Desai returns to G Sathiyan during their men’s singles final in Cuttack on Monday twitter/@sports_odisha
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India were primed to dominate the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in Cuttack, and they diligently did that, sweeping 15 medals including 7 gold to top the medals tally above England (5 medals). The hosts' hold on the tournament can be gauged from the fact that on the last day of events on Monday, all the finalists were Indians.

While the results went according to script, perhaps the story of the tournament came in the form of Harmeet Desai, the soft-spoken Gujarati who stole the limelight over the star names of Indian table tennis in Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra and G Sathiyan.

Desai — who turned 26 last Friday, the day he engineered the Indian men's team's golden finish — capped off a positive week by stunning Sathiyan 4-3 in the men's singles final to win his maiden Commonwealth Championships yellow metal on Monday.

"It's the best birthday gift ever," Desai told DNA from Cuttack. "It might have been a self gift, but it's by far my most memorable one.

"It's an amazing feeling to win the singles. It was my dream since I was a kid to play in such tournaments, and winning a gold is above my imagination," he added.


(Harmeet Desai (R) and Ayhika Mukherjee pose with their singles gold - ANI)

The biggest hallmark that the Surat-born Desai showed throughout the tournament was his ability to rise to the occasion when the chips were down, both for his team and for himself.

Trailing 0-2 in the men's team final against England, Desai was summoned to get the ship back on track after Sharath and Sathiyan had surprisingly lost their respective games. Down two sets to one in that do-or-die battle, Desai dug deep to bring himself out of the hole, and with it the team as well.

Ditto on Monday, when the world No. 120 had lost the opening two sets to 24th-ranked Sathiyan. Pushed against the wall, Desai came back fighting again, winning 9-11 6-11 11-5 11-8 17-15 7-11 11-9.       

"I just never stopped believing," Desai said.

"I didn't lose focus and tried to take the match deep. I knew it would be tough against Sathiyan and the first two games showed that. But I stuck to my plans and continued to implement them. It started troubling him, and I gained in confidence after winning the third set.

"In the team event, we were under huge pressure against England, being the favourites. But I kept my cool and had the faith that if I win my match, then Sharath and Sathiyan will win theirs. I just wanted to get the team back to winning ways," he added.

Beating Sathiyan wasn't just a one-off upset triumph, for Desai also overcame giant-killer Pang Yu En Koen — who shocked Sharath in the quarterfinals — earlier on Monday in the semis.

Such victories have only reinforced the belief in Desai that he is on the right track with his career.

"The last few months were not great for me, so to win a tournament like this is a big confidence booster. It's a confirmation that my hard work is paying off. I want to continue following my dreams and win more medals for India," Desai said.

Underdogs had the last laugh among the women too, with 134th-ranked Ayhika Mukherjee thrashing world No. 112 Madhurika Patkar to win women's singles gold.

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