SILIGURI, JANUARY 8, 2012: When all four singles finals of the Indian Oil 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships have players representing the same unit, the only guess work that remains is who among the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) boys and girls, in the junior and youth sections, would wear the crown at the Municipal Corporation here on Sunday.
Expectedly, the PSPB academy boys and girls swept all titles on offer and the huge prize purses.
Andhra Pradesh’s Karnam Spoorthy who ran into Reeth Rishya of PSPB in the junior girls final had a chance of reversing it a bit. But despite playing her heart and soul out, she finished as the bride’s maid to Reeth.
The youth boys’ final looked to be a tame affair with Soumyajit Ghosh overhauling his PSPB mate G. Sathiyan 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9). Sathiyan saved five match points in a row but with Soumyajit’s serve on, Sathiyan returned wide. With the crowd, understandably, rooting for Soumyajit, Sathiyan was rendered clueless. His attacking posture also did not pay dividends as Soumyajit was returning well. By the time Sathiyan made a semblance of recovery in the fifth game, it was too late too little for the birthday boy.
The youth girls’ final between No. 1 Ankita Das and No. 6 Pooja Sahasrabudhe raised a new level with both not willing to yield even an inch. In the end Ankita, after several anxious moments throughout the game, won 4-3. She trailed Pooja 0-2 before taking the next three games on the trot. With Pooja level at 3-3 in the sixth game, the decider became more interesting as the match lasted nearly one and a half hours.
The match between Reeth and Spoorthy had all the thrills of a final which Reeth won 4-3 amidst fluctuating fortunes when points changed hands as quickly as the two returned the ball to their opponent’s court. In the end, a nervous Spoorthy wilted under pressure after a fine recovery in the sixth game which she won 14-12 to level 3-3. But having to play the youth girls’ doubles final earlier, Spoorthy was definitely lacking in stamina while Reeth was fresh which stood her in good stead.
Earlier top-seed G Sathiyan outsmarted local favourite Raj Mondal, seeded four, 4-2 in the semifinals. Mondal was subdued to begin with, particularly when Sathiyan was unleashing his powerful smashes to lead 2-0. In the third, Sathiyan, despite leading 2-0 and then 5-1, let a small window of opening for Mondal to stage a recovery. But then Sathiyan stopped him before it was too late. Mondal had earlier knocked PSPB’s Harmeet Desai out in the quarterfinals. Though ranked a slot above Desai at No. 4, Mondal created a record of sorts against his PSPB rival winning all his matches this season.
In other upsets of the day, No. 2 Sushmit Sriram of Tamil Nadu, No. 3 Manika Batra, who played with an injured leg, No. 4 Mallika Bhandarkar of Maharashtra A exited in the quarterfinals.
TTFI president Ajay Singh Chautala, who has been here to witness the matches for the last two days, gave away the cash prizes and medals to winners.
The Results:
JUNIOR BOYS: Final: (Singles): Abhishek Yadav bt Sudanshu Grover 4-2 (11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-3, 14-12. Semi-finals: Sudanshu Grover bt Anandaraj R 4-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9), Abhishek Yadav bt Viveh Bhargava 4-0 (9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4. Quarterfinals: Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4, Anandaraj R (TN) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Dli) 11-6, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9, Vivek Bhargava (PSPBA) bt Birdie Boro (PSPBA) 16-14, 6-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-3, Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) bt Shubhankar Renavikar (Mah-A) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.
Doubles: Final: Sudanshu Grover/Abhishek Yadav bt Surojit Das/Vivek Bhargava 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8).
JUNIOR GIRLS: Final: (Singles): Reeth Rishya bt Karnam Spoorthy 4-3 (7-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-4, 11-7, 12-14, 11-4. Semi-finals: Karnam Spoorthy bt Manika Batra 4-1 (11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, Reeth Rishya bt Mallika Bhandarkar 4-1 (11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6. Quarterfinals: Karnam Spoorthy (AP) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (WB) 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 13-11, 11-7, Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Narasimha Priya S (TN) 3-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah-A) bt Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Senhora D’Souza (Mah-A) 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-3.
Doubles: Final: Sutirtha Mukherjee/Avhika Mukherjee bt Sumana Saha/Priyadarshini Das 3-0 (16-14, 11-7, 11-3).
YOUTH BOYS: Final: (Singles): Soumyajit Ghosh bt G. Sathiyan 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9).Semi-finals: Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sudanshu Grover 4-0 (1106, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, G. Sathiyan bt Raj Mondal 4-2 (11-3, 11-6, 11-13, 8-11, 11-9, 15-13. Quarterfinals: Sathiyan G (PSPB) bt Prabhakaran E (TN) 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 5-11, 11-2, Raj Mondal (NB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Mohit Verma (PSPBA) 11-8, 11-8, 11-2, 11-7, Sudanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Sushmit Sriram (TN) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7.
Doubles: Final: Harmeet Desai/Soumyajit Ghosh bt G Sathiyan/Nitin V 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-6).
YOUTH GIRLS: Final: (Singles): Ankita Das bt Pooja Sarasrabudhe 4-3 (5-11, 5-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8. Semi-finals:Ankita Das bt Reeth Rishya 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5, Pooja Sarasrabudhe bt Nikhat Bhanu 4-2 (11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5. Quarterfinals: Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Karnam Spoorthy (AP) 11-5, 12-10, 11-6, 11-4, Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah-A) 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) bt Sheweta Parte (Mah-A) 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7, Nikhat Bhanu (AP) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5.
Doubles: Final: Ankita Das/Pooja Sahasrabudhie bt Karnam Spoorthy/ Nikhat Bhano 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-7).
TTFI Press Release
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