Alappuzha, June 23: Delhi’s Payas Jain defeated statemate Yashansh Malik 4-3 to successfully defend his Youth Boys Under 19 singles title in the 83rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the YMCA facilities here today. The win was worth Rs. 72,000 in prize money.
But the win came after toil and sweat in what was one of
the best finals in recent times. Even before what both Payas and Yashansh did,
Bodhistawa Chaudhury and Preyesh Raj Suresh played out another thrilling final
in the Under-17 Boys that the former won to lift his maiden trophy.
In the match between Payas and Yashansh, playing for Delhi
together knew each other for 10 years, and it was not surprising that they took
the match to the seventh game. But what surprised everyone was the way Yashansh
got his shots so well to put Payas in all sorts of trouble.
The big rallies and service winners dominated the final.
Payas should have sealed the match when he led 5-1 in the sixth game, but
Yashansh staged a remarkable comeback to take it to the decider. In the last
game, he led 3-1 before Yashansh changed sides at 5-4. But Payas allowed him
just a point before finishing in style when he got going with his backhand
flips that fetched him a good number of points.
In the left versus left final in Under-17, Bodhistawa
Chaudhury from West Bengal got it all right, particularly with his excellent
service and a crucial net-cord point to wrap the match 4-2. The maiden national
championships title apart, the Bengal boy carried home Rs. 60,000 in prize
money.
The final did not disappoint the spectators one bit as
they could see a range of shots, from close to the table to away from the
table, long rallies and excellent service variations. Preyesh’s undoing was his
backhand which failed to come off as gently as it used to be. But Budhistawa
was superb in the afternoon with his executions.
In the last game, he was down 4-7, 8-6. But three good
service points brought him back to the stage from where he could dictate terms.
At 10-9, he held a match point and when Preyesh deuced, it gave the latter a
semblance of a chance. But it was not to be and the West Bengal lad
earned a lucky to lift the trophy.After playing two back-to-back tough matches,
including the quarterfinals last night, a much-relaxed Payas went about his
task clinically. The top seed did get extended by the talented Ankur
Bhattacharjee of West Bengal in the second and third games, but it did not
alter the result of the match, as the World No. won 4-0.
Yashansh Malik struggled before overcoming Deepit Rajesh
Patil 4-3 in the second semifinal. The Delhi boy was in some trouble after
Deepit levelled the match 2-2. Despite the pressure on him, Yashansh kept
attacking to unsettle the Maharashtra boy.
Preyesh Raj Suresh struck form in the quarterfinals and
semifinals to enter the final in the Under-17 Youth Boys section. The
left-hander defeated Khelendrajit Yengkhom of Manipur 4-1 after surging into a
2-0 lead. Though dropped the next game, the Tamil Nadu boy wrapped it up before
any further hiccup to post a 4-1 triumph. But the Manipuri lad did exceedingly
well to come back in the quarterfinals.
Bodhisatwa Chaudhury from West Bengal, too, dropped one
game in the middle, but Shlok Bajaj of Gujarat could not make any headway.
Bodhisatwa showed patience and variety on the table, which won him many
admirers. However, last night most of the seeded players in both sections
exited earlier than expected jeopardising their selection chances and leaving
the national selectors in a fix.
Results:
Youth Boys U-17: Final: Bodhistawa
Chaudhury (Ben) Preyesh Raj Suresh (TNTTA) 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5,
13-11; Semifinals: Preyesh Raj bt K. Yengkhom (Man) 11-8, 11-4,
7-11, 12-10, 11-6; Bodhistawa Chaudhury (Ben) 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6,
11-4; Quarterfinals: Khelendrajit Yengkhom (Man) bt Sarth Mishrra
(UP) 9-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-8; Preyesh Raj bt Jash Modi (Mah)
7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9; Bodhisatwa Chaudhury bt Aadarsh Om Chhetri
(Del) 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10; Shlok Bajaj bt Punit Biswas (Ben) 11-6,
8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7.
Youth Boys U-19: Final: Payas Jain (Del)
bt Yashansh Malik (Del) 2-11, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6; Semifinals:
Payas Jain bt Ankur Bhattacharjee (Ben) 11-9, 13-11, 12-10, 1-4; Yashansh Malik
bt Deepit R Patil (Mah) 11-5, 6-11, 11-13, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10; Quarterfinals:
Payas Jain bt Varun Shankar (Telg) 12-10, 11-3, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6; Ankur
Bhattacharjee bt Sarth Mishra (UP) 7-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-4, 11-7; Yashansh
Malik bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 11-6, 11-7, 11-2, 11-2; Deepit Patil bt
Aadarsh Om Chhetri (Del) 11-4, 11-8, 11-4, 10-12, 11-6.
TTFI press release
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