The ITTF World Youth Championships, recently concluded, have emerged not just as a competition but as a vibrant showcase of the future stars of table tennis. The event, which brought together 38 young players from across the globe, highlighted the success of the ITTF’s development programs, particularly the Hopes program and the WFIM scholarships.

Portugal’s Tiago Abiodun, a recipient of the WFIM scholarship, made a remarkable impact in the U15 Boys’ category, securing a Bronze medal in the Singles event. His performance, along with that of Danilo Faso, the 2022 ITTF World Hopes Week & Challenge boys champion, who partnered with France’s Nathan Pilard, captivated audiences. Their victory over the formidable Chinese pair Sun Yang and Wang Jixuan in the Round of 16 was particularly noteworthy.

In the U15 Boys’ Doubles, Australia’s Won Bae and Aditya Sareen, both WFIM Scholarship holders, demonstrated exceptional skill to clinch a commendable Bronze medal. French talent Flavier Coton, another scholarship recipient, also made his mark in the same category.

The girls’ events were equally impressive. Italy’s Nicole Arlia, a scholarship holder, showed commendable grit despite her round-of-32 loss. The French duo of Nina Guo Zheng and Leana Hochart, both Hopes alumni, clinched Bronze in the U15 Girls’ Team and Doubles events. India’s Jennifer Varghese, also a scholarship recipient, claimed the U15 Silver in Girls’ Doubles, showcasing exceptional talent against formidable opponents.

Germany’s Annett Kaufmann, another scholarship holder, was a standout performer, collecting Bronze in the U19 Girls’ Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Singles events. Her partnership with former Hopes alumni Anna Hursey in Girls’ Doubles was particularly noteworthy.

Izaac Quek, a scholarship holder and Hopes alumni, secured a Silver in U19 Boys Doubles and clinched Bronze in U19 Mixed Doubles alongside Annett Kaufmann. Their performance was a testament to their chemistry and court finesse.

Korea’s Yoo Yerin, a scholarship holder, emerged as a spectacular talent, securing the U15 Singles Silver. Her success added to the tournament’s depth of emerging talent.

Romania’s Elena Zaharia, a Hopes alumni and scholarship holder, shone the brightest. Her journey from U19 Girls’ Team Bronze to a gripping U19 Girls’ Singles performance was marked by determination and resilience. Although she did not clinch the final win, her journey was a beacon of promise for Romania’s table tennis future.

The ITTF World Youth Championships 2023 have proven to be more than just a competition; they have been a testament to the success of the ITTF’s development programs. The championship has not only highlighted the young talents but also underscored the importance of nurturing future sports stars through dedicated programs and support. The international table tennis community looks forward to seeing these young stars continue to grow and make their mark on the global stage.

In a significant development for the world of table tennis, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Swiss Table Tennis (STT) have amicably resolved a prolonged legal dispute involving Mr. Khalil Al-Mohannadi, the ITTF’s Senior Executive Vice President. This resolution, finalized on December 6, 2023, marks the end of a controversy that has lingered since 2021.

The dispute originated from allegations made by a former STT board member against Mr. Al-Mohannadi. These accusations, which were later deemed legally unfounded, had cast a shadow over the reputations of both Mr. Al-Mohannadi and the ITTF. The ensuing legal tussle not only damaged their public images but also led to substantial financial costs.

Freddy Oswald, the Vice-President of STT, expressed relief at reaching a bilateral settlement. He acknowledged the unwarranted accusations and extended a public apology to Mr. Al-Mohannadi and the ITTF. Oswald highlighted that the resolution and the public apology were significant steps taken by the new STT Board of Directors, which assumed office in March 2023. Their active involvement played a crucial role in bringing this long-standing issue to a satisfactory conclusion.

Mr. Khalil Al-Mohannadi, in his statement, expressed satisfaction with the resolution. He emphasized the importance of moving forward and focusing on the global development and growth of table tennis. His remarks underscored a commitment to collaboration and unity within the international table tennis community.

The details of the mutual agreement, signed in the presence of all parties, remain confidential. However, the resolution signifies a positive step towards healing and collaboration between two prominent organizations in the world of table tennis.

This development is a reminder of the challenges sports federations often face in maintaining their integrity and reputation. The resolution of this dispute not only closes a contentious chapter but also opens up new avenues for cooperation and progress in the sport.

As the international table tennis community looks ahead, the focus now shifts back to the sport itself. With renewed collaboration and a commitment to progress, the ITTF and STT are poised to contribute significantly to the development of table tennis on a global scale.

Panchkula, December 18: The men’s teams of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board and Delhi entered the final of UTT Senior Nationals and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium here today.

PSPB defeated AAI 2-1 and Delhi routed Maharashtra 3-0 to earn the final berths. The women’s final will be between RBI and Tamil Nadu like in the previous edition. RBI beat Maharashtra 3-1 and Tamil Nadu accounted for the Railways 3-0.

Manav Thakkar is going through a rough patch of late. Having lost the pre-quarterfinals to Payas Jain in the ranking tournament that preceded the Nationals, Manav was in trouble against Jeet Chandra in the opening tie of the team semifinals. After taking a 2-1 lead to Jeet, Manav conceded two games on the trot. But Harmeet came to their rescue again, winning his singles after Sanil Shetty put PSPB 2-1 up.

Unlike the PSPB, Delhi was more clinical on their way to the final, beating Maharashtra 3-0. After Sudhanshu Grover and Payas Jain put Delhi 2-0 up, Yashansh Malik completed the task with a 3-1 win over Chinmaya Somaiya. The Maharashtra left-handed won the first game but failed to press home the advantage. Delhi men last entered the final at the Hyderabad Nationals in 2020.

UP men did well to take their team’s stature a notch above despite not making the semifinal grade. Their 2-3 loss to top-seeded PSPB was not a surprise. However, how they resisted the title favourites, taking two ties of them, mattered the most. Divyansh Srivastava beat an off-form Anthony Amalraj in straight games in the third rubber, but Sarth Mishra’s 3-1 win over the top-ranked Indian was the icing on the cake. Manav was erratic, and Sarth cashed in on the situation to the chagrin of PSPB. But an in-form Harmeet averted any possible crisis to beat Abhishek Yadav as the UP left-hander failed to impress in both ties.

The Delhi men, too, had a difficult time against West Bengal in their quarterfinals. Thanks to their hero No. 1, Sudhanshu Grover, Delhi survived to advance further with a 3-2 win. Sudhanshu won the first and last rubber after Yashansh Malik won the crucial third rubber against Aniket Sen Choudhury. Earlier, Payas Jain did not come off the blocks well in his two singles, adding to the pressure on Sudhanshu. But the latter acquitted his job with responsibility.

RBI was clinical despite losing the first tie. Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee put their team in the final. With Diya Chitale rested for the match, Harshavardhini got the chance, but the girl from Tamil Nadu failed to make the most of it and went down to Jennifer Verghese. However, it did not change the fortune of Maharashtra, as RBI won 3-1.

Yashini Sivashankar’s roaring form continued in the semifinals and she put Tamil Nadu 1-0 up with an excellent 3-2 win over Sutirtha Mukherjee, expected to lead the Railways side into the final. Capitalising on the lead, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar thumped Moumita Dutta 3-0 and, finally, Kavyashree Baskar defeated Poymantee Baskar 3-0 and entered the final for the second consecutive time. 

In the women’s team quarterfinals, the lone aberration was when Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Prapti Sen in the opening tie. But that did not change the fortune of the RBI, as Sreeja and Diya made amends for the loss to beat West Bengal 3-1. The Railways blanked out Delhi 3-0, and Tamil Nadu won 3-1 against Gujarat.

However, the Maharashtra women struggled past Karnataka 3-2. Yashaswini Ghorpade stood against Maharashtra, winning her singles against Sayali Wani and Pritha Vartikar. But, beyond delaying the inevitable, she could not do much as Kushi Viswanath lost to Pritha 3-0, and Jennifer Verghese beat Deshna Vanshika 3-1.  

Results (TEAM):

Men: Semifinals: PSPB bt AAI 3-1 (Manav Thakkar lost to Jeet Chandra 6-11, 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 13-15; Harmeet Desai bt SFR Snehit 11-8, 11-3, 5-11, 7-11, 11-5; Sanil Shetty bt Deepit R. Patil 13-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-9; Harmeet bt Jeet 11-7, 11-3, 15-17, 11-7); Delhi bt Maharashtra 3-0 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Albuquerque.Raegan 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; Payas Jain bt Siddesh Pande 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 15-13; Yashansh Malik bt Chinmaya Somaiya 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9).

Quarterfinals: PSPB bt UP 3-2 (Manav Thakkar bt Abhishek Yadav 11-4, 12-14, 11-8, 11-6; Harmeet Desai bt Sarth Mishra 11-9, 11-5, 11-4; Anthony Amalraj lost to Divyansh Srivastava 9-11, 8-11, 10-12; Manav lost to Sarth 7-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-13; Harmeet bt Abhishek 11-9, 11-7, 12-10); AAI bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (SFR Snehit bt P.B. Abhinand 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-3; Jeet Chandra bt Preyesh Raj 12-10, 5-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5; K.J. Akash bt M. Balamurugan 13-11, 11-4, 11-7); Delhi bt West Bengal 3-2 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Soruav Saha 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9; Payas Jain lost to Ankur Bhattacharjee 10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11; Yashansh Malik bt Aniket Sen Choudhury 13-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-7; Payas lost to Sourav 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 9-11; Sudhanshu bt Ankur 11-5, 11-8, 11-3); Maharashtra bt Telangana 3-1 (Raegan bt Vansh Singhal 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9; Jash Modi lost to Mohammed Ali 6-11, 6-11, 6-11; Chinmaya Somaiya bt Ali Mohammed 12-10, 11-3, 12-10; Raegan bt Mohammed Ali 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10).

Women: Semifinals: RBI bt Maharashtra 3-1 (Sreeja Akula bt Sayali Wani 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Pritha Vartikar 11-9, 11-8, 11-4; R. Harshavardhini lost to Jennifer Verghese 5-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12; Ayhika bt Sayali 15-13, 4-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5); Tamil Nadu bt RSPB 3-0 (Yashini Sivashankar bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 11-6, 7-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-9; Selenadeepthi Selvakumar bt Moumita Dutta 11-3-, 11-9, 11-3; Kavyashree Baskar bt Poymantee Baisya 5-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9).

Quarterfinals: RBI bt Bengal 3-1 (Ayhika Mukherjee lost to Prapti Sen 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-2, 7-11; Sreeja Akula bt Kaushani Nath 11-4, 11-9, 11-9; Diya Chitale bt Syndrela Das 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8; Sreeja bt Prapti 11-8, 11-7, 11-9); Maharashtra bt Karnataka 3-2 (Sayali Wani lost to Yashawini Ghorpade 7-11, 7-11, 11-13; Pritha Vartikar bt Kushi Viswanath 12-10, 11-6, 11-4; Jennifer Varghese bt Deshna Vanshika 7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 13-11; Pritha lost to Yashaswini 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 3-11; Sayali bt Kushi 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4); RSPB bt Delhi 3-0 (Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Diya Bramhachary 11-7, 11-8, 12-10; Poymantee Baisya bt Vanshika Bhargava 13-11, 9-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9; Moumita Dutta bt Lakshita Narang 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 13-11, 11-8); Tamil Nadu bt Gujarat 3-1 (Selena Deepti Selvakumar bt Radhapriya Goel 14-12, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8; Yashini Sivashankar lost to Frenaz Chipia 9-11, 11-5, 11-1, 6-11, 7-11; Kavyasree Baskar bt Oishiki Joardar 5-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10; Yashini bt Radhapriya 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8).

Even before the quarterfinals could get underway late in the evening, three top seeds in the men’s singles and two in the women’s singles fell by the wayside in the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Ramakotaiah Indoor Stadium here today. 

Sourav Saha of PSPB went the distance to beat No. 3 Snehit of AAI 3-2 in a tough pre-quarterfinal battle, while Anthony Amalraj defeated No. 4 Manush Shah relatively easily with a 3-1 verdict and No. 5 Sanil Shetty went down to Ronit Bhanja of the Railways in another clash that went down to the wire. Ronit won 3-2. 

Except for the top seed, Manav Thakkar, who blanked out Yashansh Malik of Delhi 3-0, second seed G. Sathiyan and No. 6 A. Sharath Kamal had to endure before outlasting Raj Mondal of RBI and Akash Pal of the Railways to win 3-2, respectively. 

Sharath was down 0-2 against Akash Pal before summoning his vast experience to win the last two extended games despite stiff resistance from the Railway’s paddler. The fast-paced match witnessed several long rallies, most of which went the Sharath way. 

Second-seed Sathiyan, caught on the wrong foot and trailing 0-2, raised his game to the extent it put enormous pressure on Raj Mondal, who matched stroke for stroke. But Sathiyan stemmed the rot in the third game and continued similarly to subdue his RBI rival.

In contrast, the sixth and seventh women seeds, Moumita Datta and Swastika Ghosh, departed in the pre-quarterfinals and went 2-3 down to Yashini Sivashankar of Tamil Nadu and Anusha Kutumbale of the Railways, respectively. But the two top seeds, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath, who won her first National Ranking title in Vadodara last month, sailed through.

SHAILU EXCELS

Barring Shailu Noorbasha, who accounted for Pooja Sahasrabudhe in the round of 64 with a 3-1 (13-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9) triumph, the other two girls—Guna Samyukta and Ramjali Kajol—failed to go past the first-round hurdle of the main draw. 

Samyukta bowed out, losing to Kavyashree Baskar of Tamil Nadu 11-6, 11-6, 11-7, and Ramajali lost 6-11, 6-11, 6-11 to Sweta Parte of RBI. 

Shailu faced a tough and experienced Pooja, a former international, and won the extended game on her second game point. But Pooja levelled the score in the next to give a bit of worry to the Andhra girl, who played brilliantly and outlasted Pooja with easy wins in the remaining games. 

In the mixed doubles final, Tamil Nadu’s Preyesh Suresh Raj and Selenadeepti Selvakumar combined well to beat the UP-Assam duo of Abhishek Yadav and Trisha Gogoi 3-1 to lift the title.

Results:

Men’s Singles (PQF): Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Yashansh Malik (Del) 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Jeet Chandra bt Abhishek Yadav (UP) 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6; Ronit Bhanja (RSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 12-10; Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Manush Shah 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9; Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt SFR Snehit (AAI) 11-7, 11-3, 7-11, 9-11, 14-12; A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Akash Pal (RSPB) 11-7, 7-11, 10-12, 13-11, 14-12; Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) bt Punit Biswas (AAI) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5; G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Raj Mondal (RBI) 5-11, 12-14, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6.

Women’s Singles (PQF): Sreeja Akula (RBI) bt Takeme Sarkar (RSPB) 11-9, 12-10, 11-7; Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) bt Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4; Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Shweta Parte (RBI) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6; Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) bt Ditsa Roy (WB) 11-3, 13-11, 8-11, 11-2; Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Deepika Neelakandan (TN) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7; Yashini Sivashankar (TN) bt Moumita Datta (RSPB) 4-11, 6-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-8; Anusha Kutumbale (RSPB) bt Swastika Ghosh (AAI) 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9; Archana Kamath (PSPB) bt Oishiki Joardar (Guj) 11-3, 11-9, 11-4.

Mixed Doubles: Final: Preyesh Raj/Selena Selvakumar (TN) bt Abhishek Yadav/Trisha Gogoi (UP-Asm) 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6.

Semifinals: Preyesh Raj/Selena Selvakumar bt Arjun Ghosh/Kaushani Nath (RSPB) 12-10, 11-7, 11-6; Abhishek Yadav/Trisha Gogoi bt Asif Haque/Nikhat Banu (RBI) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8.

Vijayawada, November 30: Manipur’s Khelendrajit Yengkhom struggled past Raghuraam Prakasam of Tamil Nadu 11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, even as junior paddler Balamurugan Rajasekaran, also from Tamil Nadu, beat Harshit Kumar from Bihar 3-2 in another intriguing encounter as the main draw events in men singles got underway in the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Ramakotaiah Indoor Stadium today.

Raghuram was on the back foot straight away as he dropped the first game. Yet, he staged a nice comeback to win the second and third games. With just a game away from making the round of 64 grade, the TN boy faltered, and the Manipuri won the next two to advance.

Balamurugan, who completed a hat-trick of U-19 Boys titles in Vadodara, led 2-0 before dropping the next two to Harshit. The boy from Bihar showed maturity despite the early losses but failed to press home the advance in the decider. The TN boy played a notch better and cleaned it up quickly for a 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8.

In the third tough round of 128 battle of the day, Sarthak Gandhi of Haryana was in a precarious position when he trailed 0-2 against Shivam Chandra of UP. But the former put up a good fight to restore parity, taking the next two consecutive games before outplaying the UP paddler in the decisive fifth game to win 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8. Sarthak executed a few brilliant shots with great placements that pushed the UP player down.

Of the three who qualified for the women’s singles main draw, Ramjali Kajol was the lone Andhra player among the top groups. And Ramjali, after her first-round win yesterday over Mohona Ghosh of West Bengal, had a tough outing against India No. 19, Sagarika Mukherjee from the Railways. But it did not deter the No. 167 ranked national player, who outlasted the RSPB paddler 3-2 to qualify from Group 4. The Andhra girl defeated Sagarika 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9. It was an unexpected win for the Andhra girl, who showed her resoluteness to oust the experienced Sagarika.

From the latter groups, Shailu Noorbasha defeated Riddhima Kapoor from Delhi 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 in the first round yesterday and today accounted for Priyanka Ganguly from West Bengal 10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3. Both wins in Group 32 put her in the knockout stage alongside the elites.

The third woman to qualify from Andhra was Guna Samyukta. She kept a clean slate in the four-member Group 47, but her 11-8, 13-11, 11-9 win over junior paddler Risha Mirchandani from Maharashtra ensured Samyukta’s place in the main draw. It was surprising to see Risha going down the way she did despite her resistance in the second game. However, later today, the women’s singles main draw will shed light on the fate of three Andhra players who survived the qualifying ordeal and made it count. 

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.

Vadodara, November 23: The last time Preyesh Raj Suresh played Ankur Bhattacharjee in the Youth Boys Under-19 final in Thiruvananthapuram last month, the left-handed paddler from Tamil Nadu conceded the match in the fifth game in a bizarre way, prompted by his coach S. Raman.

The title-win win in October may not have satisfied Ankur as much as it did today. The West Bengal paddler taught a few lessons on the way to an emphatic 4-0 win over Preyesh, who was all at sea. A cursory look at the score would suggest how Ankur rendered him hors de combat in today’s final, though the former carried no injury or any such thing. However, the meek surrender must have damaged his confidence more than his reputation.

In the Girls’ final that went the distance, Syndrela Das of West Bengal had to take her game a notch better to outsmart local girl Oishiki Joardar. Syndrela won the title with a 4-2 verdict, but not before the Gujarat girl made her sweat for points.

At 2-2, it was anybody’s title. But Syndrela claimed all critical points when the last two games could have gone either way after deuce. What separated the two in the final was Syndrela’s forbearance, as Oishiki faltered on a few occasions. However, she was on song when she toppled top-seeded Suhana Saini of Haryana 3-1 to enter the final. In the second semifinal, Syndrela beat Prithoki Chakraborty from Haryana in straight games.

Given the reputation of Suhana, it looked like a one-sided semifinal even before Oishiki reached the table. And, as expected, Suhana was on a roll, winning the first game with utmost ease. But the Gujarat paddler levelled the score in a tough battle and gained the confidence to go 2-1 up after an error-prone Suhana struggled for rhythm. Cashing in on the situation, Oishiki played a tight game and won with minimal points for a showdown against Syndrela.

The Bengal girl was in a commanding position against another Haryana paddler, Prithoki, who hardly did anything to counter her opponent. Syndrela used the table well to fox her Haryana opponent, who seemed to have thrown in the towel early.

In the Boys’ semifinals, Ankur had the measure of K.J. Akash of Karnataka and led 2-0. However, he dropped the next game before going all out in the fourth game and entered the final. He will run into Preyesh Raj Suresh from Tamil Nadu. The latter won a tricky match against state-mate P.B. Abhinand, who led 2-0.

If Ankur played a flawless match, left-handed Preyesh made several unforced errors, especially in the first two games. He made amends soon enough to catch up with his counterpart and level the score. The heavy loss in the fourth game must have upset Abhinand so much that he never recovered from the shock.

In the mixed doubles final, the Railway’s pair of Akash Pal and Poymantee Baisya not only neutralised the 2-1 lead by their opponents Payas Jain and Yashaswini Ghorpade of Delhi and Karnataka but went on to notch up a 3-2 title-triumph.

The Payas-Yashsini combined well initially and led 2-1, but the Railways duo wore them out in the extended fourth game before wrapping it up in the fifth.

Results:

Youth Boys Singles U-19: Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) bt Preyesh Raj (TN) 11-3, 11-4, 11-2, 11-7.

Semifinals: Ankur Bhattacharjee bt KJ Akash (Kar) 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8; Preyesh Raj bt P.B. Abhinand (TN) 8-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7.

Youth Girls Singles U-19: Final: Syndrela Das (WB) bt Oishiki Joardar (Guj) 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 13-11.

Semifinals: Oishiki Joardar bt Suhana Saini (Har) 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9; Syndrela Das bt Prithoki Chakraborty (Har) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7.

Mixed Doubles: Final: Akash Pal/Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) bt Payas Jain/Yashaswini Ghorpade (Del/Kar) 13-15, 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9.

Semifinals: Akash Pal/Poymantee Baisya by Ravindra Kotiyan/Prapti Sen (RSPB/WB) 11-7, 11-9, 11-8; Payas Jain/Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Anirban Ghosh/Shruti Amrute (RSPB) 10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5.

Vadodara, November 20: A cursory look at the 1,923 entries for the third UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, beginning tomorrow at the SAMA Stadium, suggests two things: the significance of the event and the players’ intent to keep their rankings in the top bracket at all times.

The new thinking among the players is perhaps because of the leeway in TTFI’s selection criteria that allow the best-four rankings out of seven contests across sections, besides in the mixed doubles. The selection of players for international events hinges on the cumulative points awarded for world and national rankings. Though the top 50 ranked paddlers get an advantage over the rest, several of our players have not been able to maintain the world rankings, forcing them to take national ranking events like the one at Vadodara seriously.  

Only Manika Batra has the WR luxury and can afford to skip such tournaments and concentrate on WTT events. But not the others, including the once the top-ranked Indian, G. Sathiyan. Sharath Kamal had competed in the first two ranking championships and has not sent his entry for the event here like Manav Thakkar, who is a local boy (from Surat). Barring them and Manika, all the top players, including reigning national champions, are in the fray, trying to up the ante before the selection for the World Championships and Olympic qualifications early next year. 

The Table Tennis Association of Baroda hosted in January the first tournament after the new executive body of TTFI took charge, and it is hosting the second tournament in the same calendar year. Notwithstanding the festival season travel rush, the players’ enormous support lends something about the venue, an ideal stadium environment to conduct a tournament of this magnitude in this part of Gujarat.

The absence of Manav may not hurt the locals much as Manush Shah and Harmeet Desai, who are among the top-ranked players, will fill the void created by Manav, and go for a shot at the title. Of course, a host of other paddlers from the state would lend vocal support to them even as they contest for top positions.

Of course, the Asian Games doubles bronze medal winners Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika will rub shoulders with the rest to prove their value addition. Ayhika, who lost to Diya Chitale the title she won in Hyderabad, will gun for her second crown this season, while the junior from RBI will be flying high to square off again with the senior pro-Ayhika. Sreeja Akula would return with full vigour after injury rehabilitation.

The events get underway with the qualifications in Men, Women, U-19 Boys and U-19 Girls from tomorrow and will follow with the lower-age category events. After the first four days, the city will witness a deluge of players, especially the younger lot, accompanied by their parents and occupying every hotel in and around the stadium. Similarly, players in the rest of the categories, particularly above under-15, would make their presence count when they compete in the close to Rs. 9-lakh prize money tournament.

Competition Manager N. Ganeshan said the organisers would use STIGA equipment besides DHS balls for the senior events. Mangesh Mopker will be the referee and ably assisted by Deepak Sarvaiya and S. Sridhar as his deputy. They will rely on the national and international umpires to oversee the conduct of matches. 

Mumbai, September 9, 2021: Young Indian paddler Mudit Dani is all set to participate in the top division European League after he signed up to play for B75 Table Tennis Club in the Danish Super League.
Currently the sixth ranked Indian in the men’s single world rankings, Mudit has earlier played in the leagues in Germany and France and, now has signed a season-long contract with B75 Table Tennis Club.
“I’m very excited as this is my first time playing in the top league in a European country. For this I’d like to thank B75 for believing in me. Experience of playing in the leagues always helps players to perform better at the international level,” Mudit said.
Ace Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal has also played in the Danish League in the past. The upcoming season of the league will see participation of some of the top international paddlers from across the world including the Olympic Games medallist and the former World No. 8 Michael Maze of Denmark.
“There weren’t many tournaments last year due to the pandemic and now with the international circuit resuming gradually, I’m looking to get much-needed match practice while playing here. This league has some top players and I look forward to a great season with the team,” the 22-year-old added.
Mudit made his senior debut in 2018 and won his first-ever medal in the senior circuit at the US Open in 2019. Recently he played the World Table Tennis Contender in Doha and Budapest.

Jammu, December 6: Anthony Amalraj defeated compatriot Harmeet Desai 4-3 to claim the men singles title, while Sutirtha Mukherjee downed Ayhika Mukherjee 4-2 for the women singles crown to make a clean sweep of gold medals and silver medals in the 13th SAF Games in Kathmandu today.

With today’s sweep, Indian paddlers have won the maximum medals on offer at the Games—seven gold and five silver medals—to lead the medal chart.

It was a difficult start for Amalraj, who was 0-3 down in the final before overcoming Harmeet, who has had a fantastic form, 6-11, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7. This was the finest comebacks in recent times for Amalraj, including on the domestic circuit. In fact, Harmeet had beaten Amalraj in the final of the Indonesian Open recently and the latter would have relished the gold won at Kathmandu after having avenged that loss.

Sutirtha, too, did not have an easy flow of things as began badly against Ayhika but soon after they won alternate games until Sutirtha pulled up her socks to take the last three games to push Ayhika to be satisfied with the silver. Sutirtha won 8-11, 11-8, 6-21, 11-4, 13-11, 11-8.

Earlier, in the semifinals, top-seed Harmeet defeated Purushottam B of Nepal 11-5, 11-4, 11-1, 11-4 and Amalraj accounted for Santoo Shrestha 11-4, 12-10, 11-8, 11-2, also of Nepal. In women’s semifinals, Sutirtha and Ayhika beat their Sri Lankan opponents, Ishara Madurangi (11-7,11-4, 11-7, 11-5) and Erandi Dilushika (11-7, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5), also in straight games to stamp their authority.

Jammu, December 3: It won’t be a cakewalk for both Maharashtra A and Uttar Pradesh, the top two seeds, as they are expected to meet some of the hot contenders in each of their halves during the second stage in the 81st UTT Junior and Youth Nationals at the Indoor Hall of the M.A. Stadium here today.

Maharashtra girls, the title holders, placed in the top half can have a smooth passage up to the semi-final but could run into a rough weather if they happen to clash either Tamil Nadu or the winners of Karnataka and Maharashtra B teams. The open draw taken after the completion of group engagements suggest the top-seeded team would have to work really hard to go past the semi-final stage.

The squad would largely look up to Diya Chitale to shoulder the burden, expecting her to win both singles, and give them a semblance of chance with the support cast they have in their arsenal, including Pritha Vartikar.

Equally alarming is the situation for the No. 2 seeded squad, Uttar Pradesh, as they will have to overcome teams like either Delhi or Bengal A and Haryana, a hot favourites for the title, along with Bengal B.

UP would be banking on Radhyapriya Goel, their No. 1 player and talenten Ambika Gupta to see them through, while Haryana has two fine offensive and defensive players in Suhana Saini and Anjali Rohilla, respectively, to come up with unexpected results against their opponents. Similarly, Bengal A has the all-weather players in Poymantee Baishya and Munmun Kundu to help them go past the semi-final and even win them the gold.

As for the Junior Boys, holders and top-seed Delhi will have an envious task of arresting the progress of Bengal B, who they are expected to meet at the quarterfinal stage and Tamil Nadu during the bronze medal round. But before that they run into Telangana in the pre-quarters which have a good squad, comprising Kesavan Kannan, Sai Krishna and Sainath Reddy.

But they have the likes of Aadarsh Om Chetri, Payas Jain and Yashansh Malik to do the job. Payas, who returned only today from the Junior World Championships in Thailand—India reached the main draw there—will have no time to relax and has to get down to business straightaway.

Gujarat, who are seeded No. 2, could face Karnataka in the quarters and they would have to contend with Sujan Bharadwaj, K.J. Akash and Srikanth Kashyap, who on their day, can send the best of teams into a tizzy. If they manage to cross the last-eight hurdle, they are expected to take on Mizoram, who have two solid players in Jeho and Alberto capable of turning the tables on them.

One round each of all main draw events will begin later this evening after the Youth Boys and Youth Girls final group rounds get over.

Results (Team Events):

Junior Boys (Round 3):

Group A: Chhattisgarh bt Punjab 3-2; Group B: Gujarat bt Andaman & Nicobar 3-0; Group C: Mizoram bt Bihar 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0; Group D: Bengal A bt Pondicherry 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Jharkhand 3-0; Group E: Karnataka bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Haryana bt Himachal Pradesh 30; Group F: Telangana bt Meghalaya 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Rajasthan 3-0; Group G: Bengal B bt Chandigarh 3-0, Goa bt Odisha 30; Group H: PSPBA bt Jammu and Kashmir 3-0, Assam bt Uttarakhand 3-0.

Junior Girls (Round 3):

Group A: Odisha bt Goa 3-0; Group B: Gujarat bt Kerala 3-1; Group C: Andhra Pradesh bt Uttarakhand 3-1; Group D: Chandigarh bt Madhya Pradesh 3-2; Group E: Haryana bt Bihar 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0; Group F: Tamil Nadu bt Meghalaya 3-0, Bengal B bt Pondicherry 3-0; Group G: Telangana bt Jharkhand 3-0, Rajasthan bt Chhattisgarh 3-1;Group H: Assam bt Jammu and Kashmir 3-0, Bengal A bt Punjab 3-1.

Ajmer, November 29: Left proved right in a long time. And Sanil Shankar Shetty defeated Arjun Gosh 4-2 in the men’s singles final to lift his maiden title in the 49th Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the MCC Indoor Stadium here today.

The women singles crown went the way of Manika Batra after she managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to beat Reeth Rishya, who wilted under pressure after leading 3-1, to win 4-3.

Sanil, who ran into a fine form in the event here, was destined to own the trophy and Rs. 88,000 in prize purse, after the top-seed and title favourites Manav Thakkar was consumed yesterday by Arjun from AAI.

The AAI paddler failed to repeat the form he hit in the quarters and semifinal yesterday and overawed by the occasion of a big final began badly as Sanil took the lead. But the fighter in him, kept Arjun going when he first levelled the score and went 2-1 up. That was all he could as Sanil proved a better finish in such a moment and seized every opportunity that came with blistering down-the-line drives and superb angled serves to wrap up the next three games.

Reeth could have joined her husband to present themselves a post-wedding gift and celebrated their success in a big way. But that was not to be.

For, Reeth could not have got a better opportunity than the one today. An improved Reeth assessed her opponent’s strengths and, without falling into her traps, played with controlled aggression to go 2-0 up, including winning the second extended game calmly. Manika, with her international experience to boot, took her first game soon after and mounted pressure. Yet, Reeth was up to her task and stayed focused to lead 3-1.

With everything on her platter, she just needed to step on the gas pedal for one final assault on the top-ranked Indian in the world at No. 61. But the increasing pressure and some loose shots took their toll on Reeth and playing a subdued game she gave in. That was the chance Manika was looking for and she grabbed it with both hands to surge ahead.

After making 3-3, the top-seed knew how to go about the task. Without giving any further leeway, Manika rode luck and completed the last point with a lot to spare in the decider for her third title in the Institutional competition. Her last two titles came in the events held in 2011 (Burnpur) and 2015 (New Delhi). Incidentally, this was the only domestic appearance she has made this season and the win was worth Rs. 77,000.

Reeth, of course, would rue her missed opportunity but can take heart from the fact that the runner-up position could act as a trigger in her future title ambitions.

Results:

Women Singles: Final: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 11-13, 14-16, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5.

Men Singles: Final: Arjun Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Ghosh (AAI) 11-6, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

Ajmer, November 27:  A pair comprising junior players, Yashaswini Ghorpade and Vanshika Bhargava, from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) taught a few lessons on tenacity to the second-seeded duo of Krittwika Sinha Roy and Mousumi Paul from PSPB before entering the quarterfinals of the 49th Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the MCC Indoor Stadium here today.

The AAI combine, with a remarkable comeback, defeated the PSPB pair 3-2 and will next take on No. 7 seeds Mamata Prabhu and Senhora D’Souza of Bank of Baroda Sports Control Board tomorrow.

Fortunately, all other seeded combinations made it to the quarters, but both the No 3. Seeds Amrutha Pushpak and Nikhat Banu of RBI and No. 4 Shruti Amrute and Sagarika Mukherjee, respectively, survived to stay in the hunt after they were taken the full distance by their opponents.

Yashaswini, who was selected to represent India in the World Cadet Challenge in Poland last month, and her partner Vanshika were hopelessly placed after the first two games with the renowned PSPB players putting them in all kinds of pressure with a 2-0 lead.

But the AAI duo resurrected itself and slowly clawed their way back after making it 2-2. In the decider, it was touch and go at deuce but Yashaswini and Vanshika converted the last two crucial points to send their opponents packing.

No. 3 seeds Amrutha and Nikhat were comfortably placed at 2-1 but surprisingly let Prajakta Tipale and Mrunmayee Mhatre from LIC pair take the fourth game. That brought them back in some big trouble but the third-seeded duo stopped their opponents to win 3-2. It was a similar case for the left-right combination of Shruti and Sagarika from the Railways as the No. 4 seeds had to really fight in the decider to stop both Hely Shah and Garima Goyal of CRSB.

In men’s doubles, all the top eight seeded pairs stormed into the pre-quarterfinals and the third seeds from PSPB, Sourav Saha and Jeet Chandra did not have to enter the area as their rivals from Major Ports, Soumik De Sarkar and Manoj Mandal, gave a walkover. The top-seeds, Sanil Shetty and Sudhanshu Grover accounted for Arnab Sarkar and Souvik Banerjee from West Bengal 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 while second-seeded AAI duo of Sushmit Sriram and Akash Pal defeated Soham Bhattacharya and A. Sen Choudhary of Canara Bank 11-7, 11-3, 11-2. And, as was to be expected, all other seeded pairs had easy passage into the round of 16.

Results:

Women’s Doubles (PQF): Ahyhika Mukherjee/Sreeja Akula (PSPB) bt Eesha Joshi/Poulami Das (AI) 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8; Surbhi Patwari/Munmun Kundu (AAI) bt Frenaz Chipia/Shanmathi Satyamoorthy (FCI) 11-8, 12-10, 11-7; Pooja Sahasrabudhe/Anika Das (PSPB) bt Sayani Bose/Shailu Noorbasha (MC&IT) 11-5, 11-39-11, 11-9; Shruti Amrute/Sagarika Mukherjee (RSPB) bt Hely Shah/Garima Goyal (CRSB) 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 5-11, 11-6; Amrutha Pushpak/Nikhat Banu (RBI) bt Prajakta Tipale/Mrunmayee Mhatre (LIC) 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9; Kaushani Nath/Moumita Dutta (RSPB) bt Manisha Seal/Sangita Mahadani (MC&IT) 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8; Mamata Prabhu/Senhora D’Souza (BBSCB) bt Riti Shankar/Sanya Sehgal (Har) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7; Yahaswini Ghorpade/Vanshika Bhargava (AAI) bt Mousumi Paul/Krittwika Sinha Roy (PSPB) 10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10.

Ajmer, November 26: In what were thoroughly one-sided and dreary final affairs, the men and women squads of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) lifted the silverwares in the 49th Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships as they sent their rivals packing with an identical 3-0 margin of victory at the MCC Indoor Stadium here today.

This was the 18th occasion that their men’s squad has claimed the title, while their women counterpart for the 16th time.

The dominance of the PSPB sides was a foregone conclusion in an event of this stature. Yet, one expected some fireworks from their opponents, the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), which never came in either final.

Of course, there were a few shades of individual brilliance in specific games of rubber, but the threat perception was long taken out of the question once the PSPB men and women had taken a comfortable lead in either case. So strong were the two that the third singles for them were a mere formality.

Archana opened in a grand manner, taking a 2-0 lead against Railways’ Takeme Sarkar. However, the latter fought back well to level the score to give a glimpse of her team’s surge. Nevertheless, she missed the bus by a long shot and proved to be very poor in the third game. In a meek surrender, she was guilty of giving away as many as five negative points on the trot, making things so simple for Archana, who won the game 11-1! That’s precisely where the Railways first line of defence ended.

Manika Batra, except for the stretched first game, didn’t have to toil against Sagarika Mukherjee who allowed her to complete the formality easily. Sutirtha Mukherjee, too, toyed with Moumita Dutta before finishing the third singles in 17 minutes flat.

As for the men’s team final, the script did not change much except when A. Sharath Kamal, playing the third singles, dropped a game to Anirban Nandi of Railways. But that was perhaps the only aberration. Yet, the PSPB men were never under any threat as the seasoned Sharath, who gave a long rope, did not allow the rubber go the other way. Of course, he played some loose shots and that could not take away the aggression or his single-minded devotion towards his team’s cause.  

Earlier, Amalraj began in a whirlwind fashion, making Anirban Ghosh pay for trying to be aggressive. The fast-paced rubber saw quite a few rallies but Amalraj, with his endgame perfection, simply put it across his Railways rival.

Then it was time for the Indonesian Open winner, Harmeet Desai, to make it purely a PSPB affair against Ravindra Kotiyan, who was not at all in his elements. Soon after, Sharath made his appearance for the third singles with a big round of applause from an appreciative crowd and fellow players.

In Youth Boys, the PSPB team defeated AAI 3-0 in their last league match to retain the title and also join their Girls squad, who won on the second day, to qualify in each section for the Junior and Youth Nationals, to be held at Jammu from December 2.   

Results (TEAM):

Women: Final: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board bt Railways Sports Promotion Board 3-0 (Archana Kamath bt Takeme Sarkar 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 9-11, 11-1, Manika Batra bt Sagarika Mukherjee 12-10, 11-8, 11-9, Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Moumita Dutta 11-6, 11-4, 12-10).

Men: Final: Sports Promotion Board bt Railways Sports Promotion Board 3-0 (Anthony Amalraj bt Anirban Ghosh 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, Harmeet Desai bt Ravindra Kotiyan 11-8, 11-4, 11-4, A Sharath Kamal bt Anirban Nandi 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 13-11.

Youth Boys: Final standings: 1. PSPB, 2. AAI, 3. Canara Bank, 4. Air India, 5. FCI.

Youth Girls: Final standings: 1. PSPB, 2. RSPB, 3. Air India, 4. AAI.

Ajmer, November 23: The Institutional Table Tennis Championships, getting underway from tomorrow at the MCC Indoor Stadium and the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) team will miss the services of G. Sathiyan.

This is the first time in many years that the top-ranked Indian has skipped an event of such importance, the second highest in terms of ranking points. Not that the world at No. 30 needs to prove anything to anybody, but the spectators will certainly miss the enjoyment of watching him play.

Sathiyan, competing in the only domestic event—the Public Sector tournament at Thiruvananthapuram last week—had helped his team ONGC to title before taking a flight to Chengdu where he had lined-up a week-long training session with Taipei’s Shen Yaohuan, prior to the commencement of the World Cup Championships from November 29 to December 1.

His exploits in recent times, particularly his sixth position at the Asian Championships in Yogyakarta (Indonesia), is too well known. He had narrowly missed his maiden men singles title in a hotly-contested final at Cuttack early this January. This did pave the way for A. Sharath Kamal to enter the Hall of Fame with nine singles title and subsequently the Padma Shri, the first ever paddler to achieve the feat. And we all will miss another riveting contest.

Of course, the world No. 36 will be there to lead the PSPB team in men with the likes of Indonesia Open gold medallist Harmeet Desai, silver medal-winner Anthony Amalraj, Manav Thakkar and Sudhanshu Grover who are adequate enough to help them get yet another title in the long history of Inter-Institutional championships, which will enter the golden jubilee year in 2020. But an intense singles final between two stalwarts will be missed.

The same cannot be said about their women’s squad which will be spearheaded by Manika Batra in the company of old warhorses Madhurika Patkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Archana Kamath. Manika, the golden girl in 2018, has not played a domestic tournament this year and her performance abroad, too, has not made any big ripples. The other members, including Archana, have been inconsistent and that is a concern for PSPB. 

They will essentially face a tough time against the RBI paddlers who, in recent times, have made a mark for themselves, the Railways, AAI, Audit and other banking institutions represented by players drawn from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal—all of whom on their day can bring down the current PSPB squad from its high pedestal.

In other words, there is ample opportunity for the 13 women teams to qualify for the Senior Nationals as the top two teams in each category make the cut. Similarly, among the 18 men squads one can anticipate a fierce fight among all contenders to book their Hyderabad Nationals berth along with the PSPB, the favourites for team title.

The men’s teams will be divided into six groups of three each and women squads will be split into four groups of three and four teams.

There are two spots at stake—one each for Youth Boys and Youth Girls—which the five Youth Boys and four Youth Girls squads will try to grab to be eligible to participate in the Junior and Youth Nationals, to be held at Jammu from December 2.

All their matches will be played in the league format and whoever tops the league chart qualify for the nationals.

Other than these attractions, there are gold medals to be won in all three doubles—men, women and mixed—with the additional incentive of prize money for the pairs that do well.

Overall, the total prize purse of round Rs. 6.25 lakh to be won with the men singles winner taking home Rs. 88,000 and Rs. 77,000 for the women singles gold medallist.

“The first three days of the championships will witness matches in team events, with the singles and doubles starting from Day 4. The matches will be played on Stag Americas tables with the flooring provided by the manufacturers and DHS balls will be used during the championships,” said competition manager Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer.

He also said that veteran Anil Dubey will be the referee for the event and his deputy will be Mangesh Mopker. They will be leading a technical team of 35, comprising Blue Badge, international and national umpires.

The championships, organized by PSPB, will be inaugurated at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Dharamshala, November 22: Aadarsh Om Chetri kept Delhi’s flag flying high when he downed Divyansh Srivastava of UP 4-2 in a tough Sub-Junior Boys singles final to lift the trophy in the UTT 81st Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

But Pritha Vartikar of Maharashtra denied gold to Delhi when she stopped Lakshita Narang’s march in the final with a hard-fought 4-2 triumph.

Tamil Nadu made a harvest of nine medals—six gold, including in three team events, one silver and two bronze medals—while Maharashtra finished behind them with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. It was perhaps the first time that Delhi failed to win a team medal but the individuals did well to keep it going for the national capital.

Aadarsh had to endure an attacking Divyansh who cashed in on several edges, particularly when the Delhi boy seemed relaxed. Even in the sixth game, he came close of a deuce point but Aadarsh stopped him with two crisp shots for the gold.

It was rather surprising that Preyesh played a completely subdued semi-final and could not perform the way he is expected to, leading to his downfall as the UP’s Divyansh Srivastava picked up a perfect momentum right from the word go. Somehow top-seeded Preyesh was unable to unlock himself from the clutches of his rival and forgot his own natural game which has benefited him all through. It was also not the first time that the TN boy, despite wonderful performance throughout the National ranking events, getting bogged down in the nationals.

Aadarsh, on the other hand, had to really counter a calculated Havish who was comfortably placed at 2-0. But the Delhi boy came into his own and started reaping the fruits soon after as he managed to stop the left-handed Maharashtra boy then and there.

Pritha was in her zone in the final as she hardly allowed Lakshita get a grip. Yet the Delhi paddler made valiant efforts to take the second and fifth games but with a 3-2 lead, the Maharashtra paddler, who had just one title win this season, wrapped it up quickly to end Lakshita’s ordeal.  

Pritha, showing remarkable improvement within a year, matched the guiles of Haryana’s Suhana Saini, the top-seed. With a 2-0 cushion, the boot was on the other leg and Suhana had to take the initiative. But then the Haryana girl did put up a better fight in the next two games but could not stop the inevitable happening. Like Preyesh, she too failed at an important national semi-final.

Delhi’s Lakshita Narang avenged her earlier lost too Taneesha Kotecha in national ranking events when she upped her game to the next level after being 0-2 down. The determination of Lakshita reflected in her game as she first levelled the score before dropping one more game. But she finished it off in style and converted to her advantage all the good rallies to take the fifth and sixth games.

Abhinand, Jennifer are champs

P.B. Abhinand added the sixth gold medal—the only individual gold—to the Tamil Nadu kitty when he defeated Priyanuj Bhattacharyya of Tamil Nadu 4-1. The PSPBA paddler, who has three National Ranking titles to his credit this season, was not good on the day in spite of making it 1-1 after a bad start. However, he did stretch Abhinand in the fourth and fifth games which the TN boy won to complete the task.

Earlier, Abhinand arrested the surge of PSPBA boys as three of them had made it to the Cadet Boys semi-finals. The Tamil Nadu boy accounted for Divyaj Rajkhowa in a tough match, winning it 3-2, even as Priyanuj disposed of his academy mate Sehgal Singh, also by the same margin.

Jennifer Varghese of Maharashtra scored a come-from-behind 4-2 win to claim the gold medal in Cadet Girls final against Delhi’s Vanshika Mudgal. The Delhi girl, playing an exemplary game, had Jennifer on tenterhooks as the former led 2-0. But the Maharashtra paddler, who made it to the second final this season—she won her maiden crown at Thane—pulled up her socks to outwit her opponent. Slowly clawing her way back she claimed the singles trophy.

But the biggest surprise was Vanshika’s maiden entry into any finals this season. The talented Delhi girl defeated Anika Gupta, having upset India No. 4 Nandini Saha of West Bengal 3-2 late last night. Her confidence was evidence today when she played an attacking game against the UP girl. She will take on Jennifer Varghese, India No. 3 and a real good talent from Maharashtra, who defeated M. Hansini from Tamil Nadu 3-1. Hansini, India No. 5, had been a revelation throughout this season and the little girl had beaten No. 1 Diya Bramhacahry in the quarters.

Redemption time

In Sub-Junior Boys doubles finals, Preyesh redeemed himself in the company of Navaneeth Kutty to win the gold as did their girls—Kavyashree Baskar and Nehal Venkatasamy. The TN boys defeated Delhi’s Aadarsh Om Chetri and Aditya Jain 3-1 while Maharashtra duo of Taneesha and Pritha went down 1-3 to Kavyashree and Nehal.

Results:

Sub-Junior Boys Singles: Final: Aadarsh Om Chetri (Del) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 11.8, 11-13, 11-9, 15-17, 11-3, 11-9.

Semi-finals: Divyansh Srivastava bt Preyesh Raj Suresh (TN) 11-9, 11-4, 12-10, 11-4; Aadarsh Om Chetri bt Havish Asrani (Mah) 11-13, 5-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8.

Doubles Final: Preyesh Raj Suresh/Navaneeth Kutty (TN) bt Aadarsh Om Chetri/Aditya Jain (Del) 1-9, 11-7, 13-11.

Sub-Junior Girls Singles: Final: Pritha Vartikar (Mah) bt Lakshita Narang (Del) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6.

Semi-finals: Pritha Vartikar bt Suhana Saini (Har) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7; Lakshita Narang bt Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 8-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Doubles Final: Kavyashree Baskar/Nehal Venkatasamy (TN) bt Pritha Vartikar/Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.

Cadet Boys Singles: Final: P.B. Abhinand (TN) bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (PSPBA) 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10.

Semi-finals: Priyanuj Bhattacharyya bt Sehgal Singh (PSPBA) 5-11, 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 13-11; P.B. Abhinand bt Divyaj Rajkhowa (PSPBA) 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7.

Cadet Girls Singles: Final: Jennifer Varghese (Mah) bt Vanshika Mudgal (Del) 3-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7.

Semi-finals: Jennifer Varghese bt M. Hansini (TN) 1-8, 6-11, 15-13, 12-10; Vanshika Mudgal bt Anika Gupta (UP) 11-5, 11-6, 11-5.

Dharamshala, November 21: Tamil Nadu will look to add a couple of more titles as their Sub-Junior Boys and Sub-Junior Girls have entered the finals of the UTT 81st Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

Tamil Nadu’s Preyesh Raj Suresh and Navaneeth Kutty, who will take on Delhi’s Aadarsh Om Chetri and Aditya Jain in tomorrow’s final, defeated Karnataka’s K.J. Akash 11-1, 11-5, 11-9, while the Delhi boys downed Uttar Pradesh duo of Divyansh Srivastava and Sarth Mishra 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5.

In Sub-Junior Girls final, the Tamil Nadu’s girls—Kavyashree Baskar and Nehal Venkatasamy—will clash with Maharashtra’s Taneesha Kotecha and Pritha Vartikar as the former accounted for Haryana’s Suhana Saini and Preksha Vohra 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 while the latter sent packing their B team, consisting of Ananya Chande and Arya Songadkar, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4 in the extended semi-final.

But for a couple of semi-finals that got extended a bit, the favourites sailed through without a hassle.

On the penultimate day of the championships, the second stage singles events in Sub-Junior Boys, Sub-Junior Girls, Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls got underway. But only the top-four seeds Cadet Girls enjoyed the benefit of first-round byes. However, in Cadet Boys all top eight seeds had to start their title-campaign from the first-round onwards.

Fortunately, all top eight seeds in the Cadet Boys kept their date with destiny to move into the second as top-seeded Prayanuj Bhattacharyya of PSPBA blanked out Ahiron Bora 3-0. So did No. 2 seed P.B. Abhinand of Tamil Nadu accounted for Aayush Tanna of Gujarat, also by an identical margin to progress.

The other seeds that went through the motions included No. 3 Divyaj Rajkhowa of PSPBA, No. 4 Umesh Kumar of Tamil Nadu, No. 5 Segal Singh of PSPBA, No. 6 Dhruv Shah of Maharashtra, No. 7 Sudhanshu Mani of Delhi and No. 8. A. Jatin Dev from Telangana won against Archit Behra of Odisha. All of them posted 3-0 victories over their opponents, justifying their seeding.

Among Cadet Girls, while the top four seeds didn’t have to step on the arena, No. 5 Rupsa Ghosal of West Bengal defeated her North Beral rival Riddhi Thaiur 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 to move into the second round.

Vanshika Mudgal of Delhi, seeded No. 6, easily beat her opponent from Assam, Iavana Takuldar 11-6, 11-6, 11-4. No. 7 seed, Ditsa Roy of West Bengal blanked out Telangana’s Naoren Shriya 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 and No. 8 seed M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu downed Madhya Pradesh paddler Priya Vashishth 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 to enter the second round.

Players in all the four categories will complete their pre-quarterfinal assignments tonight before opening the concluding day affairs with the quarterfinals.

All five finals are slated for tomorrow afternoon.