Hyderabad: Ankolika Chakraborty proved her prowess in the Under-13 Youth Girls to lift the trophy yet again after accounting for Rajni Shah of the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Kolkata, in the UTT National Ranking Championships at the Firefox Sports and Resorts facilities today.
There was hardly any contest in the final, as Ankolika did what she usually does and with precision. She disposed of her NCOE opponent in less than 25 minutes to win the gold. Rajni, who excelled up to the semi-final stages, somehow lost her touch and was more error-prone in the crunch final. Ankolika did not have to earn the points, as her rival continuously fed her with them.
The final in the Under-13 Youth Boys is later tonight.
In the semi-finals, both Ankolika and Rajni dropped a game each. But they steadied the ship early enough to post victories over Shreya Dhar and Subhomita Basak of West Bengal, respectively.
Ariv Dutta of the NCOE avenged his teammate’s loss, but not before some struggle. He began on the wrong note and lost the first game in the Youth Boys Under-11 final to top-seed Krish Vinodh of Tamil Nadu. But the NCOE boy pulled back nicely to level the score and never looked back. His clever placings and quickness to pounce on the opportunity helped him tide over things as he won the next two games with a lot to spare to pocket the gold medal.
Krish’s struggle began in the semi-final when he got stretched the distance by Krishv of Haryana. The latter led 2-0 before going down to the Tamil Nadu boy. Ariv, on the other hand, did not face any difficulty against Hardik Kumar of Delhi.
Shanaya Tyagi of Delhi wore the Youth Girls Under-11 crown, winning her final in straight games against Telangana’s Venkata Mahima Krishna. The local girl had to settle with the silver. Despite a gritty performance throughout, the gold-medal showdown proved tricky as Mahima wilted under pressure. She stretched the Delhi girl in the first game and took the second, but beyond that, she could not match up to her rival.
Shanaya dropped one game before taming Serosee Chakraborty of West Bengal in the semi-final, while Mahima stretched Ankolika in two games. But it was of no avail as the Telangana girl failed to keep the momentum on her side.
Results:
U-11 Youth Boys: Final: Ariv Dutta (NOCE) bt Krish Vinodh (TN) 9-11, 11-9,11-4, 11-4.
Semi-finals: Krish Vinodh bt Krishv (Har) 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10; Ariv Dutta bt Hardik Kumar (Del) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.
U-11 Youth Girls: Final: Shayana Tyagi bt Venkata Mahima Krishna (TELG) 1-10, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8.
Semi-finals: Shanaya Tyagi bt Serosree Chakraborty (WB) 13-11, 11-8, 11-8; Venkata Mahima Krishna bt Siddhi Singh (Del) 11-3, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8.
U-13 Youth Girls: Final: Ankolika Chakraborty (WB) bt Rajni Shah (NCOE) 11-3, 11-4, 11-3.
Semi-finals: Rajni Shah bt Subhomita Basak (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9; Ankolika Chakraborty bt Shreya Dhar (WB) 11-2, 11-8, 12-10.
–TTFI
