Sixth-seed Harmeet Desai defeated fourth-seed Manav Thakkar 4-3 in the men's singles final to claim his maiden title at the 81st National Table Tennis Championships here on Sunday.
Haryana's Sutirtha Mukherjee claimed her second National crown, beating PSPB's Krittwika Sinha Roy, a three-time finalist, 4-0 in the women's singles final. In the process, she bagged three gold, including in the team event and women's doubles apart from getting a silver in the mixed event.
Harmeet, who had reached his first final in 2013, pocketed Rs. 2.5 lakh for his fantastic efforts, while Sutirtha, had won her first title at Ranchi in 2017, received Rs. 1.65 lakh in prize money.
Harmeet, who trains at Axton Centre in Germany, attributed his success to the training he has received there.
"Ever since I started training at the centre (in Germany) where I get to play with world's top paddlers, I have improved in my blocks and shot selections," he said.
"Manav I have been travelling together and when he engages you in long rallies, more often than not he wins. And the mistakes I made in the sixth set forced me rethink and I decided to keep my cool in the decider."
Results:
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