Delhi’s Yashansh Malik defeated Jeet Chandra of Haryana 4-2 to claim the youth boys singles trophy while the youth girls’ crown went to Prapti Sen of West Bengal, who beat Moumita Datta of Railways 4-1 in the UTT National Ranking (East Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Howrah Indoor Stadium in Howrah.
It was a well-earned title for the Delhi paddler – he won a marathon 22-20 fourth game to level scores. The gutsy Yashansh fought hard in the fourth after squandering nearly half a dozen game points to gain control in the final. The 22-20 victory provided him the spark and necessary confidence to take the next two games, thus shutting out whatever chances that Jeet had prior to it.
Despite the dice rolling in favour of Yashansh, the Haryana boy must attacked at will. In youth girls final, Prapti disposed off her opponent from Railways with ease.
Day of Upsets
On a day of upsets, quite a few seeds feel by the wayside both in men and women singles. But the biggest upset of them all happened to be top-seeded Anthony Amalraj and second-seed Archana Kamath, losing to unseeded Soumyajit Ghosh of Haryana and Krittwika Sinha Roy of West Bengal.
Former national champion Madhurika Patkar was defeated by Prapti Sen. Several matches in the pre-quarters went down to the wire, making it a thrilling affair.
Of the four Haryana paddlers, who made it to the round of 16, only Ghosh managed to go past the hurdle and caused an upset. Amalraj was not in his usual self but, on the other hand, despite losing the opening game, Ghosh took the extended second game to to go 3-1 up. He, however, lost the fifth and sixth games. But Ghosh increased the tempo in the decider and converted all lose shots from Amalraj to romp home winners.
Archana led 3-1 comfortably before letting Krittwika take complete control in the last three games.
In the all-West Bengal finals of the U13-U15 for Boys and Girls, Ankur Bhatacharjee defeated Shankhadip Das 3-0 while Oishiki Joardar overcame Prithoki Chakraborti 3-1 to claim their respective titles.
Results:
Youth Boys Singles: Final: Yashansh Malik (Del) bt Jeet Chandra (Har) 11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 22-20, 11-7, 11-9.
Youth Girls Singles: Final: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Moumita Datta (Rlys) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.
Men Singles: Pre-Quarterfinals: Soumyajit Ghosh (Har) bt Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 7-11, 17-15, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6; Anukram Jain (Raj) bt Wesely Do Rosaio (Har) 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5; Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Jubin Kumar (Har) 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 14-12; Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja (WB) 1-8, 11-4, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9; Manush Shah (Guj) bt Akash Pal (WB) 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 18-16, 11-3; Sushmit Sriram (TN) bt Aman Balgu (Telg) 8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9; Arjun Ghosh (WB) bt Sourav Saha (Har) 911, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-8; Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Abhishek Yadav (UP) 11-5, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5.
Women Singles: Pre-Quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee (Har) bt Mousumi Paul (PSPB) 11-6, 1-7, 9-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-13, 11-3; Srushti Haleangadi (Mah) bt Mamata Prabhu (BBSCB) 13-11, 11-9, 11-9, 21-19; Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Seraha Jacob (TN) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6; Yashini Sivasankar (TN) bt Shruti Amrute (Rlys) 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10, 11-13, 8-11, 11-9; Prapti Sen (WB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7; Naina (Telg) bt Harshavardhini (TN) 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7; Sreeja Akula (RBI) bt Moumita Datta (Rlys) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11, 13-11; Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) Archana G. Kamath (PSPB) 6-11, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8.
Boys Singles (U13-U15): Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) bt Shankhadip Das (WB) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.
Girls Singles (U13-U15): Final: Oishiki Joardar (WB) bt Prithoki Chakraborti (WB) 13-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8.
