Vadodara: Sahil Rawat of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy (PSPBA) toyed with Rajdip Sen of the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Kolkata, in a 3-0 triumph in the Youth Boys Under-15 final in the third UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sama Indoor Stadium here today.
Rajdip, who played a tough semifinal, suddenly found himself out of tune, particularly after the first game of the final. Not only did he miss his rhythm, but keeping the ball on the table was also a problem. That is when Sahil upped the ante and went for the kill in the next and the next to wrap it up in double quick time for his first title of the season.
In the Girls final, Syndrela Das came from a game down at 1-2 to beat M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu 3-2. But the latter who began well failed to finish well. Hansini should have won the extended second game, but Syndrela outwitted her. Yet, the TN girl went 2-1 up only to go defensive in the next when the West Bengal paddler switched her on to an offensive mode. Unable to come to terms with it, Hansini lost two consecutive games and the match. It gave Syndrela her second title in the tournament.
Rajdip dropped a game against Soham Mukherjee of West Bengal to win 3-1, while Sahil Rawat of PSPBA thrashed Ronald Sarkar, also from the same academy, 3-0. Both matches failed to arouse much interest as the boy from the NCOE played superbly to beat the West Bengal boy. Soham did take the second game, but that was all he could do. On the other hand, Sahil downed Ronald in straight games but got stretched in the second game.
Syndrela Das was on her way to the second crown as she entered the U-15 Girls final after beating Divyanshi Bhowmick of Maharashtra 3-1. Syndrela, who won the U-17 title yesterday, continued with the form she began the tournament with and subdued her Maharashtra rival despite losing the second game. The West Bengal girl beat Ananya Muralidharan 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
In the other semifinal, M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu made amends for her early loss in the U-17 section, registering an easy 3-0 win over Ikshika Umate from Maharashtra. Hansini accounted for Delhi's Dhaani Jain in straight games in the quarterfinals.
Kataria loses in R-32
Arya Kataria was the lone paddler from Gujarat who entered the round of 32 when he beat Akansh Sahoo of Maharashtra 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-9). Three others from the state, Sujal Kukadia, Abhilaksh Patel and Malav Panchal, fell in the first round of the main draw.
In the first round, Nikhil Menon of Tamil Nadu defeated Malv 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-13. Dhanaya Thakur of PSPB Acadey defeated Abhilakh Patel 3-2 (11-4, 13-11, 9-1, 9-11, 12-10 in another grim battle. Souren Somen of Maharashtra downed Sujal Kukadia in straight games of 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.
But Arya, who ousted Akansh, could not repeat the form against Rupam Sardar of Maharashtra, who won 12-10, 11-7, 11-7.
Results:
Youth Boys U-15 Singles: Final: Sahil Rawat (PSPBA) bt Rajdip Sen (NCOE) 11-9, 11-2, 11-5.
Semifinals: Rajdip Sen bt Soham Mukherjee (WB) 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9; Sahil Rawat bt Ronald Sarkar (PSPBA) 11-7, 12-10, 11-7.
Quarterfinals: Rajdip Sen bt Ishan Khandekar (Mah) 3-0; Soham Mukherjee bt Atharva Nawarange (Mah) 3-0; Ronald Sarkar bt Akash Rajavelu (TN) 3-1; Sahil Rawat bt Rupam Sardar (WB) 3-1.
Youth Girls U-15 Singles: Final: Syndrela Das (WB) bt M. Hansini (TN) 5-11, 16-14, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3.
Semifinals: Syndrela Das bt Divyanshi Bhowmick (Mah) 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 11-8; M. Hansini bt Ikshika Umate (Mah) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.
Quarterfinals: Syndrela Das bt Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 3-0; Divyanshi Bhowmick bt Aarushi Nandi (WB) 3-1; M. Hansini bt Dhaani Jain (Del) 3-0; Ikshika Umate bt Ankolika Chakraborty (WB) 3-2.
