Mouma Das retained the National Table Tennis title in Ajmer on Tuesday. (AFP)

Ajmer: Calcutta lass Mouma Das retained her title, while Achanta Sharath Kamal emerged the men’s champion in the the 68th National Table Tennis Championship here on Tuesday.

It was a roller coaster match for Mouma, whose racquet’s rubber came off before the match leaving her to find a new one in little time. But the third seed did not let the setback pull her down and pipped the top seed Poulami Ghatak 16-14, 4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6 to keep the National crown with her. She went home with a prize money of Rs 90,000.

“I have never beaten Poulami in a national final and I had to grab the chance this time. Her attack is really good so I knew my defence had to be really solid. I worked on these aspects and won,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Poulami, on her part, blamed the loss on her nerves and said she allowed herself to get under pressure of her own expectations.

“This was my fifth national final and I have lost it for the first time. I did a lot of physical training for this event and there was a lot of self created pressure. I was just too hungry to win it this time. But clearly it was her day and luck was a major factor,” she said.

In the men’s final showdown, Sharath Kamal, raised his game when it mattered the most to beat defending champion Subhajit Saha 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8.

The win was a sweet revenge of his title loss in the previous edition of the championship. Sharath Kamal’s second national title fetched him a prize money of Rs 1.4 lakh.

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 focussed 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 win.