Vijayawada, December 4: Sahil Rawat of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy (PSPBA) defeated Soham Mukherjee of West Bengal 3-1 to win the Youth Boys Under-15 title in the final of the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Ramakotaiah Indoor Stadium today.
Riana Bhoota continued her form in the tournament and deservingly lifted the Youth Girls U-15 trophy. The Maharashtra girl did not have to labour much against M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu as the former won 3-0. But what was surprising was the Tamil Nadu paddler dropped the guard too early after matching her rival stroke for stroke, at least till the second game. She again ended her campaign with the runner-up trophy.
Soham had an easy passage up to the semifinal but found a tough nut in Sahil in the title round. Controlling the match from the start, Sahil led 2-0. He should have finished it 3-0 but missed five match points and allowed Soham to win his first game 17-15. Nevertheless, Sahil finished well in the next for the gold medal.
Soham Mukherjee was a game down but won the next consecutive games 12-10 with struggle. When it was time to close out his PSPBA opponent, Sarthak Arya, he met with resistance as Sarthak levelled the score. However, in the last game, Soham got a sizable lead and comfortably finished to enter the U-17 Youth Boys final.
In the second semifinal between two PSPPA players, Sahil followed the same path as Soham did in the first semifinal. After losing the first game to Ronald Sarkar, Sahil gained a 2-1 lead before dropping the next. Yet, it was not all that easy for him in the decider. In a needle finish, Sahil claimed the two critical points after his rival deuced.
Hansini, who finished runner-up in the U-15 Girls event at Vadodara, has a chance to redeem herself. The Tamil Nadu girl beat Ankolika Chakraborty 3-1 and will face Riana in the final. Riana defeated Ananya Muralidharan of Tamil Nadu in straight games.
Hansini began on a wrong note but steadied herself to wrap it up quickly. Ankolika had the measure of Hansini in the first game but disappointed herself with three successive poor games. Ananya, on the other hand, could not raise her game against the rampaging Maharashtra girl.
With the consent of the parents and coaches, the organisers of the championships have decided to complete the finals of the U-13 and U-11 events in both sections today itself, keeping in mind the rain threats in the city induced by Cyclone Michaung, and the holiday declared by the District Collector in Vijayawada as a precautionary measure.
Results:
Youth Boys U-15: Final: Sahil Rawat (PSPBA) bt Soham Mukherjee (WB) 12-10, 11-8, 15-17, 11-6.
Semifinals: Soham Mukherjee bt Sarthak Arya (PSPBA) 6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6; Sahil Rawat bt Ronald Sarkar (PSPBA) 14-16, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10.
Quarterfinals:
Youth Girls U-15: Final: Riana Bhoota (Mah) bt M. Hansini (TN) 11-7, 11-8, 11-3.
Semifinals: M. Hansini bt Ankolika Chakraborty (WB) 5-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5; Riana Bhoota bt Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8.
