Javed's dream comes true
Mohammad Javed Ahmed of Bangladesh Ansar broke the decade-old dominance of Mahbub Billah and Manosh Chowdhury by winning the men's singles title of the National Table Tennis Championship, which concluded on Monday.
Six-time champion Mahbub and five-time champion Manosh shared eleven titles between them over the last eleven years, but this time Javed saw off Mahbub in the semifinals while Manosh was eliminated from quarterfinals, leaving it between Javed and Riaz Mahmud Rocky of Bangladesh Army in a fight for the coveted title.
Javed, who won the Federation Cup a few months ago, translated his dream into reality by handing Rocky a 4-2 game defeat in the final on Monday night. The 24-year-old from Narail even took a time-out during the final to nurse the wrist injury he has sustained during his semifinal match.
Javed took a 2-0 lead winning the first two games but lost the third game with a wrist injury despite leading by 9-5 points at one stage. He, however, bounced back to take the fourth game before taking a medical timeout of 10 minutes. Rocky won the fifth game but Javed wrapped up the final by winning the sixth game to ensure his title with a game in hand.
The title has not only fulfilled Javed's dream of winning the national championship, but also made him the new number one in the country. He previously held the number four position behind Mahbub, Masud Rana Parag and Manosh.
“It is a dream-come-true for me because I worked hard after dropping my fourth semester studies at my university. Besides, since winning the Federation Cup, I grew confident and was determined to win the national championship title” said Javed, who started playing the game in 2003 and showed his potential by becoming runners-up in junior table tennis championship in 2012.
“I want to thank my mother, who is always inquiring about me and giving me inspiration,” said the lanky youngster who succeeded in his fourth attempt in the national championship after making steady rise through the ranks. He had reached the pre-quarterfinals in his debut season, moved to quarterfinals in his second appearance, reached the semifinals in his third appearance before winning the title in his fourth appearance this time.
“I have another dream which is to win a medal in singles event of the South Asian Games and I want to make it real by going through more hard work in coming days. But I need uninterrupted long-term training which only the federation can arrange,” demanded Javed, who believes the federation should bring top players under a salary structure for better results in SA Games.
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