Delhi boy Virman wins maiden title; Suthirtha wears girls’ crown

Bengaluru, September 8, 2012: In a clash of two unseeded players in the Junior Boys section, Delhi’s Sabhay Virmani prevailed over Tamil Nadu’s K.R. Rohit to win his maiden title in the Indian Oil Servo National Ranking (South Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium here today.

Virmani’s 4-1 (10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9) triumph made him richer by Rs 16,500, while Rohit got Rs. 8,200 for his effort.  

In the Junior Girls’ section, No. 2 seeded Karnam Spoorthy was decimated by No. 8 seed Suthirtha Mukherjee from West Bengal  who won 4-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5) to take the crown and the winner’s purse of Rs. 13,200 home. Spoorthy had to be content with the runner-up prize of Rs. 6,600.

For Virmani, who has never won a title even on the Delhi circuit, the victory here has come as real shot in the arm in his fledgling career. The left-handed Virmani started on the wrong foot, losing the first game 10-12 but steadied well to play the rest of the match. Serving well with low tosses, he forced Rohit into committing early returns, which often left the latter struggling. At times, Rohit did look like coming into his grove, but Virmani never allowed him the liberty to do so.

Virmani, who had an evening flight back to Delhi, spoke from the airport. He said he had an open mind before going into the final. “Yes, the victory is dear to me because I have never won any before. Hence I wanted to be on the podium to feel the pleasure of receiving the medal. But unfortunately, I will miss the medal ceremony,” said the Delhi boy, who a 11th class student of the Ramjas School at Punjabi Bagh.

On his game, he said, “I kept very simple. After the close game in the first set, I forced him into errors and it paid dividends. He really pressed me hard in the second but I was prepared.”.

Virmani was comfortably leading in the third game but allowed his rival some leeway which could have put him in trouble. However, the Delhi boy was up to the task in the second and after a couple of deuces won the game at 12-10. From there, it was a confident Virmani playing even as his opponent receded into the background, making several unforced errors both at the net and returning long.

In the decider, Virmani again led 5-4, 7-5 before letting Rohit level at 7-7 and even take a point lead. Seizing the opportunity, Rohit took a point off him before Virmani leveling at 9-9. Before it could be too late, Virmani made it 10-9 and on the championship point, still receiving from Rohit, the Delhi lad returned well but Rohit just managed to push the ball on to the net.

As for the junior girls’ final, it was completely a one-sided affair. The West Bengal girl took less than half an hour to dismiss her opponent in straight games tells the true story. An attacking player that she is, Suthirtha did not waste any time in surging head in the first game with a comfortable lead to wrap it up in double quick time. The trend continued in the rest of the match as she allowed very little liberty to her rival who was prone to committing more mistakes, both at the net and even in serves.   

Results:

Junior Boys (Final): Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt K.R. Rohit (TN) 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9; Semifinals: K.R. Rohit (TN) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt D. Samira Kumar (TN) 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13; Quarterfinals: Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) bt R. Anandhraj (AAI) 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 14-12, K.R. Rohit (TN) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 11-1, 11-9, 11-4, 11-2, D. Sameera Kumar (TN) bt Peeyush Prasad (Del) 11-13, 14-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) 15-13, 11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 10-12, 11-8.

 Junior Girls (Final): Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5;Semifinals: Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 13-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-8, Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 13-11, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 14-12, Quarterfinals: Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt T. Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 14-12, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3, Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Narasimha Priya (PSPB) 11-7, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) bt Senhora D’Souza (Mah) 10-12, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9.

Men (PQF):A Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 11-1, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, Jignesh Jaiswal (Guj) bt  Amal Baglu (RSPB) 10-12, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, Sushmit Sriram (AAI) bt L. Sachin (TN) 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, Jubin Kumar (PSPB) bt Mohit Verma (IA&AD) 10-12, 12-10, 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5, Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Ravi Joshi (LIC) 11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, R. Abhishek (TN) bt N.V. Thiruvengadam (AAI) 18-16, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) w/o Ranbir Das (PSPB).

 Women: (PQF): Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt V. Sneha (IB) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7, Maousmi Paul (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4, 11-9, Divya Deshpande (PSPB) bt Kabita Das (ESIC) 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 14-12, 11-3, Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 11-4, 13-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8, Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) bt Neha Aggarwal (Del) 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7, Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 11-6, 13-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, Mamata Prabhu (DB) bt Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) 12-10, 14-16, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 11-3, 11-7, 11-13, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9.

Youth Boys (Quarterfinals): G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt N.V. Thiruvengadam (AAI) 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Mohit Verma (IA&AD) 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, Nishad Shah (AI) bt D. Sameera Kumar (TN) 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5; Pre-quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Vivek Bhargava (Raj) 11-3, 9-11, 12-10,  11-6, 11-6, N. V. Thiruvengadam (AAI) bt Rajib Sarkar (NB) 8-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, Nishad Shah (AI) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, D. Samira Kumar (TN) bt Sushmit Sriram (AAI) 3-11, 11-9, 17-15, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2, Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Avik Das (RSPB) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7, Mohit Verma (IA&AD) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4, Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt K.R. Rohit (TN) 9-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) bt A.R. Navneet (Kar) 11-7, 11-9, 14-12, 11-4.

Youth Girls (Semifinals): Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Nikhat Banu (AAI) 1-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9, Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) bt V. Sneha (IB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4; Quarterfinals: V. Sneha (IB) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 1108, 12-10, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9, Nikhat Banu (AAI) bt Sumana R. Krishnan (IB) 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, Manika Batra (PSPB) bt N. Vidhya (DB) 11-2, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7.  

A TTFI Press release