Table tennis: Surat-based Harmeet gearing up for top clash

Gujarat's Harmeet Desai has moved one step closer to qualify for the prestigious ITTF Global Junior Circuit Finals, San Juan, Puerto Rico next year. The Surat-based paddler's phenomenal performance in 2011 has taken him near to the prestigious event, which hosts the top junior players across the globe.

"This is a very big tournament as far as juniors are concerned. Entry is restricted to only top-16 players of the world. Going by Harmeet's recent form, he should qualify for it," said Haresh Sangtani, secretary, Gujarat State Table Tennis Association.
Harmeet's doubles partner Soumyajit Ghosh also has a good chance of making it to San Juan.

According to Sangtani, if the Gujarat paddler comes up with yet another good show in the forthcoming Volkswagen 2011 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, Manama in November, he will get the ticket.

"He, now, needs to enter top 16. I am sure he shall do that at Bahrain. That will make him eligible for January event,"
remarked Sangtani.

On Sunday, Harmeet added three more to his medals kitty. At the ONGC 2011 Indian Junior & Cadet Open — ITTF Premium Junior Circuit in Dehradun, Harmeet bagged one gold and two silver.

The tournament saw participation of paddlers from Chinese Taipei and Sri Lanka, among others. In the company of Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet defeated the Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Chun-Lin and Lai Yi-Yao 11-7 11-5 10-12 14-16 11-7 to clinch the doubles title.    

Interestingly, Harmeet's doubles partner was his opponent in the singles final. Soumyajit got the better off Harmeet, whose little loss of concentration cost him the match. The Bengal paddler won 4-11 11-5 11-6 14-16 9-11 11-3 11-5. "I should have won the match after snatching an early lead. However, there was some silly mistakes and loss of focus, one can say, which allowed Soumyajit to bounce back and square it. In the decider too, I got a lead but unforced errors led to my downfall. But, overall, I am happy with my performance. And it should help me in my rankings," said Harmeet. Considering the points he bagged at Dehradun, Harmeet should climb the junior ranking ladder.

Currently he is placed at 28th in U-18 boys section without considering his performance at the Uttarkhand's capital. The second silver medal came from the team event where, Harmeet representing India 'A' team went down to G Sathiyan and Sourav Saha-anchored India 'B' team in the final.  Sangtani's hopefulness is reflection of Harmeet's sensational run in 2011.

He had clinched gold at World Junior circuit in Austria besides bagging singles and doubles junior titles at the US Open. Harmeet's hard work and valuable tips from former world number one Peter Karlsson have made him a tough.