Soma, Mou guide Police to clinch TT league title

Sonam Sultana Soma and Sadia Rahman Mou shone throughout the Women's Premier Division Table Tennis League to guide Police Table Tennis Club in becoming unbeaten champions after they handed a 3-1 defeat to JBL 71 in the last match of the Super-Four stage at the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium in Dhaka today.

Police secured maximum 22 points from 11 matches, including all of their games to top the nine-team table. Meanwhile, reigning champions Abahani finished second with 16 points.

Despite receiving punishments over walkovers in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games earlier in last month, former national champion Soma and current champion Mou, alongside Nawreen Sultana Mahi, performed tremendously in each match as Police TT Club became maiden champions.

"We were morally down after receiving punishments, so we could not practice well," Soma told The Daily Star today.

"It was a double challenge for us to get into the form while guiding new outfit Police TT Club in becoming champions. We have proved that we are not finished yet," she added.

Soma played for Police for the first time since she played for Abahani from 2003 to 2022, except two years when she represented Bangladesh Biman. In the last edition of the competition, Soma also helped Abahani to clinch the title of women's premier division league.

"The league was comparatively competitive compared to the last edition of the league as the young players had been in the training for a long time and they offered challenges on the board," said Soma, whose two-year international suspension and one-year domestic suspension will be effective after the completion of the upcoming National Table Tennis Championships.