Boro, Sagarika clinch sub-junior singles titles

Jodhpur, September 24: It was a long-awaited contest between the two Petroleum Academy boys pursuing different styles. In the end, it was the offensive Birdie Boro who won beating the defensive Lalrinpuia 4-2 to wear the sub-junior boys’ singles crown in the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Gaushala Indoor Stadium here today.

He also took home the winner’s purse of Rs. 12,000.

The title in the sub-junior girls’ singles went to Sagarika Ghosh who beat Moumitta Dutta 4-3. The victory was worth Rs. 10,000. The final turned out to be one-sided which the North Bengal girl won.

As for the Cadet Boys titles, Regen Alberqueque of Maharashtra defeated state-mate Ashwin Subramanian 4-2 and Prapti Sen held the West Bengal flag afloat in Cadet Girls singles by beating Swetha Steffi from Tamil Nadu 3-1. The winners took home Rs. 8,400 and Rs. 7,000, respectively.

Since both the PSPB Academy boys know each other too well, the match went along the expected line in spite of Lalrinpuia, who put on display his retrieving skill, giving some torrid moments to his rival. Nevertheless, Boro kept attacking and was rewarded with some crucial points which ultimately clinched the final in his favour.

Despite having a bleeding nose because of the heat at the indoor hall, Boro never gave up when he was leading 2-1. In the fourth game, he allowed Lalrinpuia a semblance of chance and the latter won the game at 11-8. But he blew away another good chance in the next by overdoing with chop returns. Once Boro sealed that set in his favaour, it was a mere formality in the sixth which he completed. 

Lalrinpuia was third time lucky against top-seed Anirban Ghosh, the sub-junior title winner at the South Zone a coupe of week ago, as the Petroleum Academy boy made a rough weather of what would have been a relative easy semifinal match.

In fact, Lalrinpuia should have sealed the match after taking a 3-1 lead as he was up 4-0 in the fifth set. But he allowed Ghosh to stage a come back and level the score at 3-3 in the best-of-seven encounter.

Finally, the PSPBA boy’s patience and defensive play held him in good stead even as an impatient Ghosh was erring in his stroke play and at the net at crucial junctures. 

Similarly, the sub-junior girls’ events also some seeded players falling by the wayside, including Andhra Pradesh’s A. Naina, the title winner at Bangalore’s zonal. With Naina departing in the quarterfinals, things became much easier for the others left in the fray, throwing up great opportunities for a new champion to emerge in a final clash between West Bengal’s Moumitta Dutta and Sagarika Mukherjee of North Bengal. Both had to toil earlier in the semifinals against Tamil Nadu’s C.R. Harshavardini and Shruti Amrute of Maharashtra, respectively. Moumitta and Sagarika both won 4-1 against their opponents.

RESULTS:

Sub-junior (Boys): Final: Birdie Boro (PSPBA) bt Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) 12-10, 7-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8; Semifinals: Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) bt Anirban Ghosh (WB) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, Birdie Boro (PSPBA) bt Ayush Tayal (Har) 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-3;Quarterfinals:Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Lalhunhula (PSPBA) 11-9,12-10, 11-8, Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 9-11,10-12, 11-8, 16-14, 11-3, Ayush Tayal (Har) bt Ronit Bhanja (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Birdie Boro (PSPBA) bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.

Sub-junior (Girls): Final: Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) bt Moumitta Dutta (WB) 11-9, 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7; Semifinals: Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) bt CR Harshavardhini (TN) 11-9, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7,  Moumitta Dutta (WB) bt Shruti Amrute (Mah) 11-9, 11-3, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3; Quarterfinals: Shruti Amrute (Mah) bt A. Naina (AP) 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, Moumita Dutta (WB) bt Varuni Jaiswal (AP) 5-11, 12-10, 3-11, 13-11, 11-4, Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) bt A Sreeja (AP) 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, CR Harshavardhini (TN) bt Priyanka Pareek (Raj) 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6.

Cadet (Boys): Final: Regen Alberqueque (Mah) bt Ashwin Subramanian (Mah) 14-12, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5; Semifinals:  Ashwin Subramanian (Mah) bt Wesley Do Rosario (Goa) 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, Regen Alberqueque (Mah) bt Anukram Jain (Raj) 6-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9;Quarterfinals: Ashwin Sbramanian (Mah) bt Udit Bhatacharya (WB) 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, Wesley Do Rosaria (Goa) bt Harsh Srivastava (Raj) 11-5, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, Regen Alberqueque (Mah) bt NR Mahuri (NB) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 13-11, Anukram Jain (Raj) bt Subhojit Malakar (NB) 11-5, 11-7, 11-4.

Cadet (girls): Final: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Swetha Steffi (TN) 11-6, 11-2, 6-11, 11-4; Semifinals: Swetha Steffi (TN) bt Tulika Roy (WB) 11-8, 14-12, 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, Prapti sen (WB) bt V. Sasya (AP) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7; Quarterfinals: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Yashi (Pun) 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9,  Swetha Steffi (TN) bt Ameesha Dhall (Del) 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, V. Sasya (AP) bt Swastika Ghosh (Mah) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, Tulika Roy (WB) bt Atheya Ghosh (NB) 7-11, 11-3, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9.

A TTFI Press release