Back-to-back titles for Sahil and Bhoota

Surat: Sahil Rawat of PSPB Academy and Bhoota Raina of Maharashtra bagged their second consecutive Youth Boys and Youth Girls Under-13 titles in the UTT National Ranking Championships for Season 2022 at the DD Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here today.

They picked it up from where they left it off in Vadodara and beat their rivals, Aditya Das from West Bengal and Divyanshi Bhowmick from Maharashtra, with an identical 3-1 margin in the final.

Sahil had accounted for Aditya in Vadodara, too. That final must have replayed in their minds as one could see a nervy Adiya struggling against a confident Sahil, who dropped the second game before a clinical finish. Of course, Aditya pushed Sahil in the fourth game, but Sahil completed the last two points without hassle after the deuce.

Bhoota, too, dropped the second game, but she was never under any duress against Divyanshi. Bhoota was so strong and an under-pressure Divyanshi made far too many mistakes, making her opponent’s life cosy.

Knowing each other well and coming as they do from PSPB Academy, it was understandable the quarterfinal between Sahil and Vivaan won’t be easy. Vivaan started well to lead 2-0 before losing steam when Sahil picked it up to win the next three games for a 3-2 verdict and to enter the Boys’ semi-finals.

Aarav Negi of Uttarakhand surprised another PSPBA boy, Dhariya Rawat, to win 3-2. After leading 2-0, Aarav let Dhariya levelled the score before Aarav romped home. In the other two semi-finals, Mayuresh Sawant beat Ritvik Gupta of J and K 3-1, while Aditya Das downed Abheek Kashyap from Assam with a similar verdict.

A similar pattern followed in the Girls’ quarterfinals. Ahona Ray came 0-2 from behind to beat Naisha Rewaskar from Maharashtra 3-2. Ahona withstood the imminent pressure and raised the level of her game, especially in the fourth game (13-11) and restored parity. In the decider, she was in her zone to outsmart her Maharashtra rival.

The pendulum of fortune kept swinging with each game in the match between Divyanshi Bhowmick and Tanmayee Saha until it reached the last game. After dropping six match points, Maharashtra’s Divyanshi beat Tanmayee to win 3-2, the decider stretching to 19-17. But Bhoota Raina, also from Maharashtra, defeated Shreya Dhar of Bengal 3-1 and Ankolika Chakraborty blanked out Dhaani Jain from Delhi 3-0.

But Bhoota Raina, also from Maharashtra, defeated Shreya Dhar of Bengal 3-1, and Ankolika Chakraborty blanked out Dhaani Jain from Delhi 3-0.

In comparison, the semifinals in both sections failed to raise the bar, and the winners—Bhoota Raina and Divyanshi Bhowmick in the Girls’ category and Aditya Das and Sahil Rawat—stormed into the finals without breaking a sweat.

Results:

Youth Boys U-13: Final: Sahil Rawat (PSPBA) bt Adiya Das (Ben) 11-2, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10.

Semi-finals: Sahil Rawat bt Nayuresh Sawant (Mah) 11-6, 7-11, 11-2, 11-5; Aditya Das bt Aarav Negi (Ukd) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8.

Quarterfinals: Sahil Rawat bt Vivaan Dave (PSPBA) 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6; Mayuresh Sawant bt Ritvik Gupta (JK) 11-6, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6; Aarav bt Dhariya Rawat (PSPBA) 11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7; Aditya Das bt Abheek Kashyap (Asm) 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 18-16.

Youth Girls U-13: Final: Bhoota Raina (Mah) bt Divyanshi Bhowmick (Mah) 11-9, 10-12, 11-2, 11-2.

Semi-finals: Divyanshi Bhowmick bt Ankolika Chakraborty (Ben) 10-12, 11-8, 11-2, 12-10; Bhoota Raina bt Ahona Ray (Ben) 16-14, 11-8, 11-3.

Quarterfinals: Bhoota Raina bt Shreya Dhar (Ben) 11-4, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7; Ahona Ray bt Naisha Rewaskar (Mah) 4-11, 7-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-5; Ankolika Chakraborty bt Dhaani Jain (Del) 15-13, 11-6, 11-5; Divyanshi Bhowmick bt Tanmayee Saha (TTFI) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 19-17.

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