Achanta Sharath Kamal raised his game when it mattered most to beat defending champion Subhajit Saha and clinch the men's singles title at the 68th National Table Tennis Championships in Ajmer on Tuesday.
Sharath shrugged off a one-game deficit to beat Saha 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 and earn sweet revenge for his title loss in the previous edition of the championships.
Sharath's second national title fetched him prize-money of Rs 1.4 lakh.
In the women's final, defending champion Mouma Das beat top seed Poulomi Ghatak 16-14, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6 in a thriller to retain her title.
She went home richer by Rs 90,000.
Sharath was wayward to start with but came up with thrilling backhand returns in crucial stages to get the better of Saha. The top seed later admitted that despite winning the championship, he was not particularly pleased with his performance and attributed the rather inconsistent show to exhaustion.
"I have been fighting throughout the championship to remain focused and keep my concentration on the game but somehow things have not gone as they should have. I like to lead from the start and I am not comfortable if it doesn't go that way. Maybe I am mentally tired," the 24-year-old said after the triumph.
