This was his second title here, having already claimed the
Sub-Junior Boys crown on the second day of the championships.
Tamil Nadu’s Selenadeepthi Selvakumar made amends for her
previous title loss to overcome Airports Authority of India’s Harsha Vardhini
to win the Junior Girls trophy 4-2.
Manav, who is in his zone, put out on display his variety of
strokes without any mental block against the West Bengal
boy. Anirban, normally an attacking player, found the going tough against
Manav, who never flinches to go for the kill, irrespective of the situation.
But today was a normal day for him and he went about the task, sending his
down-the-line forehand winners and also playing away from the table, clinically
to ward off even an imaginary threat from Anirban.
Selena, on the other hand, had everything to lose. She,
however, brought variety to his strokes and brilliantly used the table to
outwit her AAI opponent, who would have done better if she were able to shed
those minor errors at the net.
Manav Thakkar is proving to be Jeet Chandra’s nemesis. On
their fifth consecutive meeting in recent times, Jeet yet again failed to
overcome the Manav phobia. Today in the semifinals, Jeet went down in straight
games of 7-11, 11-13, 6-11, 8-11 but Manav’s rival in the final, Anirban Ghosh,
escaped by the skin of the teeth against PSPBA’s Lalrin Puia.
Puia, being erratic at times, proved to be his undoing
despite waging a wonderful battle against the West Bengal
lad who led 2-0. Puia staged a comeback of sorts but could not withstand a
clinical onslaught by Anirban.
In girls’ semifinals, Selena who missed the title by a
whisker at Durgapur
had it easy against AAI’s Harsha Vardhini, winning the tie 4-1 while it was a
one-sided affair for Ayhika who downed Manasi in straight games. Except for the
third extended game in which Selena lost 10-12 before sewing it up in the next
two. Ayhika, on the other hand, allowed some liberty to Manasi in the third yet
it was the AAI girl who clinched it 13-11.
Earlier, UP’s Aishwarya Pathak failed to go past the
quarterfinal hurdle losing to Maharashtra ’s
Manasi Chiplunkar 3-4. Incidentally, Aishwyarya had upset second seeded Bohra
Payal of Maharashtra yesterday to raise visions of an interesting quarterfinal
battle.
Aishwarya did live up to expectations to begin with but has
to blame her misery after having led 2-1 until the midway. Though she lost the
opening game even as her opponent was struggling to find her feet, the UP girl
picked up nice momentum to go 2-1 up.
Yet, the credit must go to the Maharashtra
girl who not only equalled score but also took the lead only to lose advantage
in the next game by a big margin. She avenged that loss by returning the
compliment to her UP rival in the decider to win 11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8,
5-11, 11-5 in a bottom half duel. Even Ayhika had a tough match against
Telengana’s Sreeja Akula which the former won 4-3 from the same half.
Results:
Junior Boys Singles: Final: Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) btg
Anirban Ghosh (WB) 4-2 (6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5, 11-9); Semifinals:
Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 4-0 (11-7, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8),
Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Lalrin Puia (PSPBA) 4-2 (11-4, 11-6, 2-11, 11-9, 8-11,
11-9).
Junior Girls Singles: Final: Selenadeepthi Selvakumar
(TN) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) 4-2 (3-11, 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8,
11-3); Semifinals: Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (TN) bt Harsha Vardhini (AAI)
4-1 (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9), Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) bt Manasi
Chiplunkar (MHR) 4-0 (11-4, 11-1, 13-11, 11-6).
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