In one of the most successful days for India, the hosts claimed silver and assured six medals in the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagraj Indoor stadium, here on Thursday.
Mouma Das partnered Soumyajit Ghosh in the mixed doubles final but they finished second to Zian Jhan and Yihan Zhou who won 11-3, 15-13 and 11-7 to take the gold. In the final game, Mouma-Ghosh were 7-3 up but they lost out of steam in the end to give away the game and eventually the match.
With this win, Singapore clichéd third gold medal as they claimed two golds in the men's and women's team championships.
But, 29-year old Mouma was the star of the day as she also reached semis in singles and doubles, thereby assuring at least a couple of bronze. In the quarters, she overcame a England's Joana Parker challenge with a 4-1 verdict with the scoreline reading 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 and 13-11 while in the doubles, she paired up with Shamini Kumaresan to win 3-1 over Malaysia's lee Wei Beh and sock Khim NG.
Mouma had also won a medal being part of the team which won finished joint third in the team championships. Talking about the mixed doubles final, Mouma said, “They were too good. Especially, I struggled against Zian. Zian's speed was too quick and the way he was giving returns, was too quick.”
“Overall it was a good day for me. I want to continue my good work for tomorrow. Now, my target will be to get golds in singles and doubles,” Mouma added.
Other shining star for the hosts was veteran Achatha Sharath Kamal who reached the semifinal in the singles by defeating Singapore's Yang zi 4-3 in a grueling seven-setter with a scoreline of 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-8 and 11-8 after routing Wales' Ryan Jenkins 4-0 (11-2,13-11, 11-6, 11-3).
The 30-year old also added more cheers as he and his doubles partner Subhajit Saha reached the semis defeating the Nigerian pair of Ono Onaolappo and Olaiide Olotayo 3-0 with a scoreline of 11-2, 11-8, 14-12.
The defending champion Indian pair will now face English pair of Samuel Walker and Doran Christopher, who caused an upset by beating Singaporian pair of Hu li and Ma liang 3-0. In the semifinal 70th ranked Kamal face 55th ranked li, who had won a game against the Indian during the team championships final.
Another Indian women's pair of Madhurika Patkar and Neha aggarwal also assured a medal as they defeated compatriot pair - Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Divya Deshpande with a 3-1 verdict.
After dropping the first game 8-11, the experienced duo improved their show and won the next three sets - 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 and they will face the English highly-skilled pair of Kelly Sibley and Parker.
Another medal for the host was assured by Manika Batra who is the top-ranked (204) Indian in the Championships. She faced challenge in the pre-quarters and quarters from compatriots - sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja.
But the 17-year old held the nerves to win the matches 4-3 (4-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9) and 4-1 (11-10, 11-5, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4). In the semifinal, Manika faces Canada's Mo Zhang.