Sharath-Manika overpower Ravindra-Sagarika, enter final

Cuttack, January 7 

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Asian Games bronze medallists A Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will take on the top-seeded pair of Manav Thakkar and Archana Girish Kamath in an exciting mixed doubles final of the 80th National Table Tennis Championship here Tuesday.

In the semifinals, second seeded pair of Sharath and Manika defeated third-seeded duo of Sourav Saha and Suthirtha Mukherjee of Haryana 3-1 to set up a clash with Manav and Archana. In the first semifinal, Manav and Archana had notched up a 3-0 win over fourth-seeded Ravindra Kotiyan and Sagarika Mukherjee of the Railways to enter the finals at the Nehru Stadium here. Manav and Archana combined so well, disposing of the Railways pair in straight games in a match that clocked less than 15 minutes.  However, Sharath and Manika, who led 2-0, dropped the third game, after levelling the game at 3-3 to lead 9-5. Some rash shots forced the second-seeded pair on the back foot after the Haryana duo picked four points in a row to level 9-9. They easily picked the last two points to make a match of it. In the fourth game, Sharath and Manika opened well and surged into a decent lead. But both Sourav and Suthirta fought back well to come too close for the PSPB pair's comfort. But then Sharath returned a scorching backhand when Suthirta served which brooked no challenge from Sourav. At 10-9, the PSPB duo kept their nerves and pulled it on without wasting any more time and energy.  The winning pair stands to gain Rs. 25,000 in prize money while the runners-up will receive half the amount.—PTI