Jharkhand’s Ajay Mahajan storms into main draw of National Master TT Championship

SUBHASH MISHRA

Dhanbad, April 6: Ajay Kumar Mahajan of Jharkhand stormed into the main draw of the 30th UTT National Master Table Tennis Championship being played at Nagar Indoor Stadium Hyderabad (Telangana),

The report reaching state headquarters said Ajay Kumar Mahajan defeated Devendra P Nath of  Maharashtra by  11-09,  05 -11, 11- 3  and 11-09 in a sets encounter to book a berth in the main draw of the national master table tennis championship (above 60 years).

The chairman of the Jharkhand Master Table Tennis Association, Saket  Kumar, said that this is the first time a player from Dhanbad has reached the main draw of the national  Master championship.

The fierce battle between Ajay Kumar Mahajan of Jharkhand and Devendra P Nath of Maharashtra became the centre of attraction in the indoor stadium as it swung in favour of either side in frequent movement. Finally, Ajay Mahajan showed the nerve and won.

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In the first set, Mahajan took the initial lead of 3-0, but  Devendra P Nath bounced back and levelled the score-7-7. He took the lead 8-7, but Mahajan bounced back and clinched set 11-09.

In the second set, Mahajan looked off-colour. He took a 3-0 lead in the initial stage but lost 5-11.

In the third set,  Mahajan took an aggressive line from the beginning and outclassed his rival. P Nath looked helpless before ruthless forehand and backhand smashes of Mahajan and finally succumbed to the third set 3-11.

In 4th game, both the players took a defensive game and fought for a single point. The sea-saw battle witnessed 5-5 all, later  8-8 all, and 9-9 all. However, Jharkhand’s Ajay Kumar Mahajan, displaying extraordinary stamina skill in such age, won 4th set as well as game  11-9 and got a standing ovation from spectators in the stadium.

“It is a matter of pride for us that a player of state has entered the main draw of the National Master Championship”, said Saket Kumar Sinha from Hyderabad.

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