Indore: Gnasekaran Sathiyan served himself and a sparse crowd at the Abhay Prashal Indoor Stadium a double delight as he won both the Youth Boys singles and doubles titles at the 74th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships that concluded here today.
PSPB’s Sathiyan, making most of the absence of Soumyajit Ghosh, last year’s winner of the title, defeated Tamil Nadu’s Nithin Thiruvengadam 4-1. The singles triumph was worth Rs. 55,000 and 180 points. Additionally, the victory could put him in a better position for selection in the team for Commonwealth Championships to be held at New Delhi in May. Earlier, Sathiyan combined with Sourav Saha to take the doubles crown against the Tamil Nadu pair of Nithin Thiruvengadam and Sushmit Sriram to win the doubles final 4-1.
Sathiyan and Nithin matched each other in their offensive game plan. Both were erratic at the net, but Sathiyan made fewer mistakes and scored many winners. His dominance, after losing the second set, was so complete that the PSPB boy just dismissed the presence of Nithin in less than half an hour to wrap it up. Only during the second set did Nithin lead 4-0 and 7-5 before Sathiyan went 9-8 up. But two long forehands helped Nithin’s cause as he won the set 11-9. But beyond that he couldn’t do anything.
Keeping her top billing intact, Krittiwicka Sinha Roy defeated PSPB’s Ankita Das 4-2 in the Youth Girls singles final. In fact, Anita was at an advantageous position, leading 2-1. If Krittiwicka shed her usually attacking game, Ankita went into shell using the push and prod methods, bringing boredom to the final. Both adopted Probably, they were sort of ploys adopted by the two who seemed to know each other’s game well. Nevertheless, Krittiwicka opened up in the fourth game, which paid her rich dividends much to the chagrin of Ankita.
The Junior Boys singles final promised a keen fight right from the world go—and as the score line suggests—which Petroleum Academy’s Abhishek Yadav won 4-2 against team mate Sudhanshu Grover in a keen fight. But what made the difference was the cool and calm demeanour of Yadav against the patchy and inconsistent Grover. In Junior Girls final, top-seeded Suthirtha Mukjeree downed Manika Batra 4-2 to win the singles crown.
In Youth Girls doubles final, Andhra’s Nikhat Banu and Karnam Spoorthy established themselves as a compact pair and enhanced their reputation by winning the title against PSPB’s Reeth Rishya and Suthirtha Mukherjee 3-2. The same Andhra pair had won the women’s doubles title at the Raipur nationals last month. Earlier,
The PSPB Academy pair of Abhishek Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover defeated the other pair from the academy, Pankaj Vishwakarama and Surojit Das, 3-0 in the junior boys doubles final while it was the Kerala duo of Maria Rony and Seraha Jacob which won the junior girls doubles title beating Tamil Nadu’s S. Narasimha Priya and Amrutha Pushpak 3-0.
Results:
Youth Boys: Final: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Nithin Thiruvengadam (TN) 4-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6); SF: G.Sathiyan bt Sudhanshu Grover 4-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-2, 11-4), Nithin Thiruvengadam bt Sourav Saha 4-2 (11-8, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8).
Doubles: Final: G.Sathiyan/Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Nithin Thiruvengadam/Sushmit Sriram (TN) 4-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6).
Youth Girls: Final: Krittiwicka Sinha Roy (WB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-2 (7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4); SF: Krittiwicka Sinha Roy bt Manika Batra 4-1 (11-8, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-1), Ankita Das bt Suthirtha Mukherjee 4-2 (11-2, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-7).
Doubles: Final: Nikhat Banu/Karnam Spoorthy (AP) bt Reeth Rishya/Suthirtha Mukherjee (PSPB) 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3).
Junior Boys: Final: Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 4-2 (15-13, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8); SF: Abhishek Yadav bt Lalrinpuia 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9), Sudhanshu Grover bt Lalhunhiua 4-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9); QF: Abhishek Yadav bt Anirban Ghosh 4-2, Lalrinpuia bt D. Sameera Kumar 4-0, Sudhanshu Grover bt KR Rohit 4-1, Lalhunhiua bt Ronit Bhanja 4-1.
Doubles: Final: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Pankaj Vishwakarma/Surojit Das (PSPBA) 4-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-3).
Junior Girls: Final: Suthirtha Mukherjee (PSPB) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 4-2 (11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6); SF: Manika Batra bt Karnam Spoorthy 4-0 (11-9, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8), Suthirtha Mukhjerjee bt Reeth Rishya 4-2 (11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8); QF: Suthirtha Mukherjee bt S. Narasimha Priya 4-1, Reeth Rishya bt Mallika Bhandarkar 4-2, Manika Batra bt Ayhika Mukherjee 4-1, Karnam Spoorthy bt Amrutha Pushpak 4-0.
Doubles: Final: Maria Rony/Seraha Jacob (Ker) bt S, Narasimha Priya/Amrutha Pushpak (TN) 11-7, 11-3, 12-10.
