Mohali: Soham Mukherjee and Syndrela Das of West Bengal lifted the Youth Under-13 Boys and Girls titles, respectively, in the UTT National Ranking North Zone Table Tennis Championships at the Sports Complex at Sector 78 here today.
Soham defeated Pratiyush Bauva 4-0, while Syndrela struggled to beat Kavya Bhatt, also from Maharashtra, 4-3. If the Boys final was a damp squib, the Girls final reached the crescendo with the Bengal girl clinching it in the decider.
Soham brooked no challenge from the Maharashtra boy as the former disponed him off in less than 20 minutes. But Kavya’s resistance was too much to bear for Syndrela, particularly after the Maharashtra girl levelled the score on extended points. Nevertheless, the Bengal girl held her nerves to romp home winners.
As for the quarterfinals, the matches were more of a one-sided affair. In contrast, the players showed guts and character in the pre-quarterfinals. But the Boys’semifinals had some thrilling moments with the winners fighting hard to wrest the initiative. Soham Mukherjee dropped two games before subduing Debraj Bhattacharjee 4-2 in the all-Bengal first semi-final clash. In the second, Pratiyush from Maharashtra followed suit to beat Rupam Sardar of West Bengal 4-2.
In the Girls semifinals, Kavya Bhatt defeated Nandhini Reena 4-1, while Syndrela Das blanked out Ananya Muralidharan 4-0.
The intensity with which the Under-13 boys played proved the youngsters are on track for the bigger things. At least three pre-quarterfinals went down to the wire and Cadet National champion from Tamil Nadu, Nikkhil Menon, became the first victim of unseeded Sarthak Arya of Delhi. Despite the top seed leading 2-1, the Delhi boy’s assertive play rendered Nikkhil searching for his counters.
Sounav Barman from West Bengal, down 1-2, recovered to beat Swapnanil Dutta of Assam 3-2, while Debraj Bhattacharjee, also from Bengal, defeated Bhaskar Singh Sugra for a similar score. The Delhi boy, who trailed 1-2, levelled to take the issue to the decider. But Debraj won the last game on extended points. For Soham Mukherjee, it was easy against his Karnataka rival Aarnav Naveen as the West Bengal paddler sealed it for him in straight games.
In U-13 Girls, another Cadet Nationals champion M.Hansini bowed out 1-3 in the pre-quarterfinals. However, Kavya Bhatt’s approach against the top seed was not only bold but also precise. Exploiting the angles well, the left-hander kept Hansini on tenterhooks, leading her to commit unforced errors. The Tamil Nadu girl also could not keep the ball on the table that hastened her downfall. In the end, it proved a one-sided match.
In the three other pre-quarterfinals, the winners had to snatch triumphs from the jaws of losses. Divyanshi Bowmick, Ikshika Umate, both from Maharashtra, and Nandini Reena Balaji from Tamil Nadu won 3-2.
Results:
Youth Under-13 Boys: Final: Soham Mukherjee (Ben) bt Pratiyush Bauva (Mah) 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8.
Semi-finals: Soham Mukherjee bt Debraj Bhattacharjee (Ben) 10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 11-0, 11-9, 11-8; Pratiyush Bauva bt Rupam Sardr (Ben) 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-7.
Quarterfinals: Soham Mukherjee bt Arya Sarthak (Del) 11-6, 11-8, 11-6; Debraj Bhattacahrjee bt Sounav Barman (ben) 11-8, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6; Rupam Sardar bt Shrestho Chakraborty (Ben) 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9; Pratiyush Bauva bt Pprantik (Ben) 11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8.
Youth Under-13 Girls: Final: Syndrela Das (Ben) bt Kavya Bhatt (Mah) 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9.
Semi-finals: Kavya Bhatt bt Nandini Reena Balaji (TNTTA) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9; Syndrela Das bt Ananya Muralidharan (TTTA) 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7.
Quarterfinals: Kavya Bhatt bt Divyanshi Bowmick (Mah) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7; Nandini Reena bt Ikshika Umate (Mah) 14-12, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5; Syndrela Das bt Raina Bhoota (Mah) 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9; Ananya Muralidharan bt Ayushi Singhal (Del) 11-5, 14-12, 11-9.
