Vijayawada, November 28: There may be a marginal drop in entries for the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, beginning tomorrow at the Ramakotaiah Indoor Stadium, if compared with the last two events. But what makes the tournament more vibrant is the return of the stalwarts A. Sharath Kamal and G. Sathiyan together with Manav Thakkar.

The first and last named skipped the Vadodara tournament. However, their entries in the men’s singles here would bolster the organisers, who are organising the championships after five years, the rest of the field and the spectators. The Andhra Pradesh Table Tennis Association conducted a ranking event in 2018.

Of the 1788 entries, men top the field with 208. The women (158), U-19 Boys (139) and Girls (120) follow the men in that order.

Be that as it may, the competition department has its task cut out when it processes the seeding. With the considerable drop in world and national rankings, Sharath could come in the 5-8 bracket, while Sathiyan still could be at No. 2 and would follow Manav Vikas. The Surat man has the backing of both world and national rankings to stay at the top of the seeding list. There would be a tiebreak for the third position between Manush Shah from RBI and SFR Snehit from the neighbouring Telangana, as the two are equal on points. 

There would be no such problems in the women’s singles. Reigning national champion Sreeja Akula from the RBI would occupy the top-seed slot, pushing Archana Kamath to the second, followed by Ayhika and Sutirtha Mukerjees. For the records, the Hyderabadi is the only second Indian in the below 100 world rankings, and that has cemented his position in the seeding list. Archana played the best game at Vadodara in many months and deservingly won the title. The PSPB paddler would want to consolidate her position for a place in Team India, as would others, with the Worlds in February and Olympic qualifications around the corner next year.

There will be some respite for all of these title aspirants as their spoilsport, Diya Chitale, in several events in recent times, has pulled out owing to a sprained ankle. She will take a couple of weeks to recover and be in action to pose a threat to them.

The qualification events for Youth Boys Under-19 will also run concurrently. But those in the fray will miss the creamy layer in either section, who are on national duty at the World Youth Championships in Slovenia. The women’s squad has already accomplished a feat, claiming the bronze for the first time.

P. Vishwanatha Rao, Secretary of APTTA, said that STAG equipment, including flooring, tables and balls, will be used for the seven-day tournament. He said a formal inauguration of the championships will be at 4 p.m.

N. Ganeshan, the competition manager, said that Mangesh Mopkar will continue as referee for the events, with Krishna Kumar and Ramana Kumar will be his deputies. They will have the services of 50 other technical officials, including Blue Badge, International and National umpires. 

Vadodara, November 26: Sahil Rawat of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy (PSPBA) toyed with Rajdip Sen of the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Kolkata, in a 3-0 triumph in the Youth Boys Under-15 final in the third UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sama Indoor Stadium here today.

Rajdip, who played a tough semifinal, suddenly found himself out of tune, particularly after the first game of the final. Not only did he miss his rhythm, but keeping the ball on the table was also a problem. That is when Sahil upped the ante and went for the kill in the next and the next to wrap it up in double quick time for his first title of the season.

In the Girls final, Syndrela Das came from a game down at 1-2 to beat M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu 3-2. But the latter who began well failed to finish well. Hansini should have won the extended second game, but Syndrela outwitted her. Yet, the TN girl went 2-1 up only to go defensive in the next when the West Bengal paddler switched her on to an offensive mode. Unable to come to terms with it, Hansini lost two consecutive games and the match. It gave Syndrela her second title in the tournament.

Rajdip dropped a game against Soham Mukherjee of West Bengal to win 3-1, while Sahil Rawat of PSPBA thrashed Ronald Sarkar, also from the same academy, 3-0. Both matches failed to arouse much interest as the boy from the NCOE played superbly to beat the West Bengal boy. Soham did take the second game, but that was all he could do. On the other hand, Sahil downed Ronald in straight games but got stretched in the second game.

Syndrela Das was on her way to the second crown as she entered the U-15 Girls final after beating Divyanshi Bhowmick of Maharashtra 3-1. Syndrela, who won the U-17 title yesterday, continued with the form she began the tournament with and subdued her Maharashtra rival despite losing the second game. The West Bengal girl beat Ananya Muralidharan 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

In the other semifinal, M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu made amends for her early loss in the U-17 section, registering an easy 3-0 win over Ikshika Umate from Maharashtra. Hansini accounted for Delhi’s Dhaani Jain in straight games in the quarterfinals.

Kataria loses in R-32

Arya Kataria was the lone paddler from Gujarat who entered the round of 32 when he beat Akansh Sahoo of Maharashtra 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-9). Three others from the state, Sujal Kukadia, Abhilaksh Patel and Malav Panchal, fell in the first round of the main draw.

In the first round, Nikhil Menon of Tamil Nadu defeated Malv 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-13. Dhanaya Thakur of PSPB Acadey defeated Abhilakh Patel 3-2 (11-4, 13-11, 9-1, 9-11, 12-10 in another grim battle. Souren Somen of Maharashtra downed Sujal Kukadia in straight games of 11-6, 11-7, 11-6.

But Arya, who ousted Akansh, could not repeat the form against Rupam Sardar of Maharashtra, who won 12-10, 11-7, 11-7.

Results:

Youth Boys U-15 Singles: Final: Sahil Rawat (PSPBA) bt Rajdip Sen (NCOE) 11-9, 11-2, 11-5.

Semifinals: Rajdip Sen bt Soham Mukherjee (WB) 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9; Sahil Rawat bt Ronald Sarkar (PSPBA) 11-7, 12-10, 11-7.

Quarterfinals: Rajdip Sen bt Ishan Khandekar (Mah) 3-0; Soham Mukherjee bt Atharva Nawarange (Mah) 3-0; Ronald Sarkar bt Akash Rajavelu (TN) 3-1; Sahil Rawat bt Rupam Sardar (WB) 3-1.

Youth Girls U-15 Singles: Final: Syndrela Das (WB) bt M. Hansini (TN) 5-11, 16-14, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3.

Semifinals: Syndrela Das bt Divyanshi Bhowmick (Mah) 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 11-8; M. Hansini bt Ikshika Umate (Mah) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.

Quarterfinals: Syndrela Das bt Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 3-0; Divyanshi Bhowmick bt Aarushi Nandi (WB) 3-1; M. Hansini bt Dhaani Jain (Del) 3-0; Ikshika Umate bt Ankolika Chakraborty (WB) 3-2.

Vadodara, November 25: M.R. Balamurugan of Tamil Nadu completed a hat-trick of title wins in the Youth Boys Under-17 when he blanked out Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra in in the third UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sama Indoor Stadium here today.

Syndrela Das of West Bengal, making most of the early exits of top two seeds, defeated state mate Saanvy Roy 3-1 to lift her maiden Youth Girls U-17 title. Both winners laughed their way to the bank with the winner’s cheque of Rs. 24000 each. The runners-up in both sections received half the amount in prize money.

After his fine showing in the semifinal, one expected Kushal to put up some resistance. Though it came in the second game, he missed two game points, allowing Balamurugan to go 2-0 up. The third game was a mere formality for the lanky Tamil Nadu player, who accomplished the task without a fuss.

Syndrela was too good for Saanvy. Though the latter managed a game off her, Sannvy was hardly in the match as Syndrela relentlessly attacked, shattering the confidence of her statemate. In the semifinals, Balamurugan Muthu Rajasekaran and Kushal Chopda spent torrid moments at the table before overcoming Priyanuj Bhattacharyya and Punit Biswas, respectively. The Tamil Nadu and the Maharashtra paddlers identically won 3-2 to enter the final.

Top seed Rajasekaran was in trouble as the fourth seed Priyanuj from Assam started on a bright note to win the first game. But the Tamil Nadu boy fought back resolutely to go 2-1 up. Yet, he failed to sustain the onslaught of the boy from Assam as the latter levelled the score. In the decider, the TN player turned the table to outwit his rival as he ran up a sizeable lead that would see him through. Unable to cope with the pressure, Priyanuj made unforced mistakes, which hastened his downfall.

The match between third seed Kushal Chopda and second seed Punit Biswas was nicely poised when Punit restored parity (2-2). At that point, it was difficult to say who would be the eventual winner, as Maharashtra and the AAI players had it in them to topple one another on a given day.

In a match, which went down to the wire, the Maharashtra boy played cautiously but cleverly forced Punit into committing himself early and scoring his points. Kushal worked his way up quietly against an impatient Punit and kept asking questions which elicited no answers.

In the first semifinal between Saanvi Roy from West Bengal and Diya Bramhachary of Delhi earlier, the latter was on the verge of closing out Saanvy when she led 2-0. Nobody would have expected the Delhi girl to go into a shell, letting the West Bengal paddler sneak through a narrow opening after winning the third game.

As if on cue, the eighth seed from Bengal clinically did that and levelled the score in the next. From there, she never looked back as she pounced on the opportunity provided by the fourth seed to seal her place in the final, especially after the top two seeds, Kavya Bhatt from Maharashtra and Avani Tripathi from UP, exited in the second round. Third seed Syndrela Das cemented her place in the final with an easy win over Vanshika Mudgal of Delhi.

The two Delhi girls had to be content with the bronze medals.

Results:

Youth Boys U-17 Singles: Final: Balamurugan M. Rajasekaran (TN) bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 11-6, 14-12, 11-8.

Semifinals: M. Rajasekaran bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm)7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 11-6; Kushal Chopda bt Punit Biswas (AAI) 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7.

Youth Girls U-17 Singles: Final: Syndrela Das (WB) bt Saanvi Roy (WB) 11-2, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6.

Semifinals: Saanvi Roy bt Diya Bramhachary (Del) 8-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6; Syndrela Das bt Vanshika Mudgal (Del) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4.

Vadodara, November 24: Top seed Harmeet showed his class and why he is the top-ranked Indian in the world when he beat ninth-seed Jeet Chandra in the men’s singles final 4-2 of the third UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sama Indoor Stadium here today.

Just before that, Archana Kamath lifted her maiden title when she triumphed over Ayhika Mukherjee, the second seed, with a 4-0 verdict.

When Jeet led 2-0, it looked as if the title was sealed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) player. With his reputation at stake, the CWG medallist and world No. 73 launched himself to take the next four games on the trot and lift the trophy. Jeet, who took the first two extended games, was searching for the ball on the table, and Harmeet, with his loads of experience, just rolled him over. Along the way, the senior pro taught him a few lessons about keeping a cool head in an important final.

Eighth seed Archana Kamath redeemed herself with authority in a one-sided women’s singles final. But the first title win was sweeter for the Bengaluru girl, who was almost there but could never win the national ranking crown despite showing a lot of promise since her title at the Cuttack Nationals in 2018. 

Full credit to the PSPB paddler, who shed all inhibitions and self-doubts of recent times to beat the in-form RBI player, who won the first national ranking crown in Hyderabad in June. It was a patchy start for Ayhika, who tried to pull herself back in the stretched second game. But Archana was on song and never allowed the RBI paddler to come anywhere close, keeping her at a distance to clinch the gold medal. A happy Archana was all smiles as her struggle over a couple of years has borne fruit.

Archana may not have been in the best form, but her gritty character came to the fore in back-to-back matches. After leading 3-0 in the semifinals against Kavyashree Baskar of Tamil Nadu, the former national champion dropped three consecutive games, putting herself in deep trouble. But she raised the level in the decider and won. In the quarterfinal against Sreeja, Archana trailed 0-2 before outsmarting the top seed from RBI to win the last three games.

Second-seeded G. Sathiyan bowed out of the medal reckoning when he fell 4-1 to the guile of ninth-seeded Jeet Chandra in the singles quarterfinals.

It was no different in the women’s singles as Ayhika Mukherjee and Archana Kamath were the only seeds that made it to the final after No. 5 Diya Chitale and No. 3 Sutirtha Mukherjee departed in the quarterfinals.

Sathiyan was playing his first domestic tournament this season, and one expected him to give a good account of himself as the reigning national champion in the quarterfinals. But after the tricky first game, which Jeet won, Sathiyan managed to level the score 1-1. But the AAI player was more accurate in attack and defence and scored quick points to put Sathiyan under pressure.

Top-seeded Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale went down to Archana and unseeded Kavyashree Baskar, respectively. As though that was not enough, Pritha Vartikar, another unseeded paddler, sent third-seed Sutirtha packing in the quarters.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: Harmeet Desai (PSPB) bt Jeet Chandra (AAI) 10-12, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8.

Semifinals: Harmeet Desai bt Raj Mondal (RBI)11-5, 7-11, 14-12, 11-6, 11-5; Jeet Chandra bt Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) 11-7, 11-7, 14-12, 11-6.

Quarterfinals: Harmeet Desai bt Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6; Raj Mondal bt Payas Jain (Del) 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10; Anthony Amalraj bt Manush Shah (RBI) 11-7, 12-10, 14-16, 11-13, 11-7; Jeet Chandra bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8.

Women’s Singles: Final: Archana Kamath (PSPB) bt Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 11-7, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7.

Semifinals: Archana Kamath bt Kavyashree Baskar (TN) 11-8, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 11-3, 11-8, 11-4, 11-2.

Quarterfinals: Archana Kamath bt Akula Sreeja (RBI) 4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8; Kavyashree Baskar bt Diya Chitale (RBI) 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 11-6; Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Trisha Gogoi (Asm) 12-10, 11-5, 11-3.