Handcrafted, specially made to order blades

These are handcrafted, specially made to order blades. Beautiful, aren't they?

Editor

Rubber Sheet review - Rakza 7

RAKZA7 is the newly developed rubber by YASAKA, using mainly natural rubber gum for the top sheet. This improves the level of grip and the power of spin drastically. The top sheet is combined with the new "power Sponge". The top sheet and "Power Sponge" work in perfect synergy,producing the Hybrid Energy rubber RAKZA7. When the player hits the ball hard, the rubber "grips"the ball and the stroke can be used to place the ball accurately, both in direction and length. The serve and short returns are very sharp and easy to handle. Due to the increased percentage of natural gum the durability is improved. RAKZA7- a winning combination.

I thought this amateur is doing some great looping with the Rakza. Imagine what serious or Pro players are doing with it!

Amalraj shocks Sharath Kamal to win Nationals, Poulomi Ghatak Women's National Champ

Anthony Amalraj finished the season at a high that he displayed right through the season. He beat Achanta Sharath Kamal 4-2 in the finals. Earlier, Poloumi Ghatak defeated K Shamini 4-0.

Such was his form that Amalraj was leading 3-0 in the finals before the determined Sharath decided to fight back winning the next two. In the sixth game however, Amalraj was determined not to let the match slip into a decider and won the game.

There was some controversy after Amalraj jumped on to the table to celebrate. It is understandable since he broke Sharath's grip on the Indian national title.

Results: 

Men’s singles (final): Amal Raj A  (PSPB) bt Sharath Kamal (PSPB) (4-2) 11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8; Semi-finals: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Soumayajit Ghosh (NB) (4-1) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Amal Raj A (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) (4-0) 11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8.

Women’s singles (final): Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Shamini K (PSPB) (4-0) 11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7; Semi-finals: Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (NB) (4-3) 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8; Shamini K (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) (4-1) 11-9, 11-4, 12-10, 13-15, 11-6.

Maharashtra A teams post sensational victories

Mah A beat PSPB in a historic match in the Women's semi finals of the Team events at the 73 rd Inter State and Senior National Table Tennis Championships. Rarely have PSPB faced defeat against other teams.

In one of the other big upsets, Maharashtra A beat North Bengal in the Quarterfinals. North Bengal had the likes of Soumyajit Ghosh and Raj Mondal in their ranks! Soumyajit won both his matches but Raj Mondal could not escape the clutches of Udare and Fernandes. Experienced Chaudhary ensured the third point.

Editor

Sharath Kamal goes down to Timo Boll

Just when you thought that Sharath was done playing with the cream of World Table Tennis, he had a go at Timo Boll a couple of days back. If you tickle your memory, you will remember that he just played Ma Lin at the Hungarian Pro Tour just recently.

Unfortunately, Sharath lost 8-11, 9-11, 8-11 to the ever-consistent and huge star from Germany. Sharath plays for SV Werder Bremen and Timo plays for Borussia Dusseldorf.

73rd Inter state and Senior National Table Tennis Championships

The most prestigious tournament of the Indian calendar is here and top players such as Sharath Kamal, Amalraj, Soumyadeep Roy, Mouma Das, Poulami Ghatak, K Shamini are all participating in UP's Lucknow.

Old photo of PSPB team members

Joo Se Hyuk beats World Champion Zhang Jike

Defender Joo Se Hyuk sent shock waves down the Chinese team's spine by beating Zhang Jike in straight sets in the Olympic year at the Hungarian Open Table Tennis World Tour Tournament. Just when the team was grappling with the possibility of not being able to field veterans Ma Lin and Wang Liqin at the Olympics, Jike is giving some sleepless nights to the team management.

Joo won 11-5,11-7,11-7,11-4.

Ma Lin continued his slide by losing to Xu Xin in straight sets. Ma Long survived a huge onslaught by Chen Qi and won in extra points in the decider. 
In the Quarter affected by the withdrawal of Wang Hao, Adrian Crisan of Romania made the most of it by beating Chen Weixing to advance to a rare semi-final at this level. He faces Joo, who will not let such an opportunity of reaching the finals slip by.

Sharath gives Ma Lin a scare

Indian Table Tennis ace, A Sharath Kamal gave TT legend Ma Lin a run for his money at the Hungarian Open World Tour (formerly called Pro Tour) event.

In the 2nd round of the main draw, Ma Lin prevailed 4-1 (11-4,5-11,11-7,16-14,11-9). Sharath had great chances to equal the match at 2-2 but unfortunately lost the fourth game after an extended duel. 


Earlier, in the first round, Sharath squeaked past England's Paul Drinkhall after being 0-3 down. He eventually won 4-3, in a decider that went all the way to 13-11.

Cornilleau All Weather Bat

Don't worry if you leave this bat outside in the rain. It is an all weather bat!

Winners of the Junior and Youth National Championships 2012 at Siliguri

Winners of this year's Youth and Junior National titles:
Junior girls: Reeth Rishya
Junior boys: Abhishek Yadav
Youth girls: Ankita Das
Youth boys: Soumyajit Ghosh

Please note that the photos are from the previous year. Incidentally three out of the four retained their crowns.