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Harmeet Desai bagged his second national championship title last week following a seven-game thriller against defending champion Gnanasekaran Sathiyan to finish 4-3 in a come-from-behind victory at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium in Panchkula, Haryana.
Despite being 2-1 down, Harmeet backed his intensity when he was 4-9 down in the fourth game only to level the scores at 9-9 before wrapping the game with two consecutive points. A similar test awaited in the fifth game, where the Surat-born paddler was left behind at 4-6 at the halfway stage. An attacking game came to the fore as Harmeet won seven of the next nine points to take a lead at 3-2.
Harmeet squandered the opportunity to seal the tie in the sixth game as an injured Sathiyan ensured to win the last two points. However, Harmeet didn’t allow his opponent to take a lead in the decider, though the scores levelled at 8-8. The Gujarat paddler pocketed the last three points to win his second Senior national championship after 2020.
Speaking to Sportskeeda exclusively in a telephonic conversation, Harmeet Desai reflected on his thoughts on the national triumph:
"It feels great. Very special to play a tough match in the final and win 4-3. When I was trailing 2-1 and 9-4, and from there to win against Sathiyan was very special."
"Throughout the tournament, there were many tough opponents. Jeet Chandra, Manush Shah, and given that I could win in such a tough competition brings much happiness to me."
Harmeet won two UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Vadodara and Panchkula in the build-up to the senior nationals. He was also part of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s (PSPB ) 27th title in the men’s team event.
"It helped as the same conditions were there for the national championships. Preparation-wise it was good and I also got matches to play in the team events," Harmeet said on playing national ranking tournaments ahead of the senior nationals.
Harmeet Desai's achievements in 2023
Harmeet Desai blanked World No. 12 Jang Woojin (3-0) and China’s Xiang Peng (3-1) en route to a bronze medal at the WTT Contender Lagos 2023 in Nigeria in June this year. In the following WTT Contender Tunis 2023 event, he stunned South Korea’s World No. 11 Lim Jonghoon in the round of 32 before losing the pre-quarterfinals.
The 30-year-old was an integral part of the Goa Challengers' six-member team that won its maiden UTT title in July. Along with veteran paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan, Harmeet secured a bronze medal in the men’s event at the 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championship in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Harmeet said it was an overall great year for him after performing well both at nationals and international events, after adding two ranking tournaments, and the senior nationals to conclude the year with a lot of optimism in the store.
He will next be in action at the WTT Star Contender Doha 2024 (January 8-13) and will later participate in the WTT Feeder Corpus Christi 2024 (January 15-18).
