Indore: Ankur Bhattacharjee from West Bengal, fresh from his Under-19 Boys title in Surat, repeated with another gold-winning performance over Divyansh Srivastava of Uttar Pradesh in the Youth Boys final of the Khelo India Youth Games on the concluding day of the table tennis events at the Abhay Prashal here today.
Understandably, Maharashtra claimed the overall championship, but the second spot went to West Bengal, despite a tie with UP. The former got the jury’s unanimous vote, thanks to Ankur, whose gold weighed heavier than the silver that Divyansh won.
Taneesha Kotecha of Maharasa, who beat Lakishita Narang of Delhi 4-2, bagged the Youth Girls gold, pushing the Delhi paddler to the silver medal position on the podium.
Ankur, who won 4-0 in Surat, dropped his fourth game before wrapping it up 4-1 against the same UP rival in what turned out to be a one-sided final. The West Bengal boy’s blistering forehands and excellent winners in long rallies put him 3-0 up. But in the fourth game, Divyansh showed some character to pull back once before succumbing to pressure and settling with the silver medal.
The bronze medals went to Jash Modi of Maharashtra and Yashaswini Ghorpade of Karnataka in their respective categories.
Taneesha had the measure of Lakshita right from the word go. Yet, the Delhi girl levelled the score in the second at 5-5, 8-8. Going up by a point twice, she held her first game point at 10-9 and 11-10. But the Maharashtra girl took the game on her second game point (14-12) to take a 2-0 lead.
In the third game, however, Taneesha ran away with a considerable lead of 6-2, 7-4, and 9-6. Lakshita suddenly shifted to what she does best, attacking from close to the table and away from it to unsettle the nerves of Taneesha. Levelling 9-all, the Delhi lass finished 11-9, the sign of first resistance from her.
Continuing the same fashion, and after running close with her opponent, she reduced the margin to 2-3. Even as we expected a good fightback in the sixth, Taneesha closed out the option with a runaway lead and ensured the gold medal stayed in her grasp.
BRONZE PLAYOFFS
Jash Modi proved far superior to Aadarsh Om Chhetri from Delhi when it came to finishing a game. Twice in dire straits in the bronze medal playoff, Jash extricated himself from the depth to outsmart his rival for the bronze medal.
Jash, after he dropped the first game, steadied to gain a slender lead at 12-1, but the Delhi boy recovered from the setback to level the score. The two matched each other stroke for stroke and played away from the table using the flanks nicely and with excellent control over his placements and shots. During long rallies, Jash finished better as Aadarsh rushed with his forehands.
It reflected in the fifth game. Aadarsh led 7-4 but allowed Jash to level 7-7. From there, the match turned on its head as a down-the-line backhand put the Maharashtra boy 9-8 up, and went on to lead 10-8, having two match-point advantage. Two successive points helped Aadarsh to deuce and go 11-10 up. Nevertheless, the Delhi lad put the ball into the net on his service and Jash, taking advantage, went 12-11 up and finished with a good return when he received.
Yashaswini Ghorpade denied Haryana and Prithoki Chakraborty the bronze medal with a good fightback in the fifth game, despite leading 3-1.
Prithoki Chakraborty held six-game points, and a visibly worried Yashaswini Ghorpade struggled to gain a grip in the match was palpable. From 3-7 down, the Karnataka girl inched her way slowly, collecting every single point that came her way, thanks to Prithoki’s unforced errors.
The two backhand players, relying too much on their backhands, became overcautious, paving the way for the Haryana girl’s inability to press home the four-point advantage first and then when she held six game points. With each point gained, Yashaswini went from strength to strength and deuced. In the end, a couple of giveaways by Prithoki presented her opponent with the medal.
Results:
Boys Singles: Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 11-3, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4.
Bronze Playoff: Jash Modi (Mah) bt Aadarsh Om Chhetri (Del) 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 11-2.
Girls Singles: Final: Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) bt Lakshita Narang (Del) 11-4, 14-12, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-4.
Bronze Playoff: Yashaswini Ghorpade (Kar) bt Prithoki Chakraborty (Har) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10.
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