Vijayawada:
Priyanuj Bhattacharyya of Assam redeemed his position and lifted the Youth Boys Under-17 trophy when he beat Punit Biswas of West Bengal 3-1 in a one-sided affair in the final of the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Ramakotaiah Indoor Stadiumon Sunday.
Syndrala Das of West Bengal continued his fine run to thrash Sayanika Maji of Delhi 3-0 and take the crown in the Girls’ section.
The finals went along the expected lines, but none, including the players, expected them to be so easy and cosy. Priyanju assessed the mood perfectly and went on the offence right from the word go. Unable to bear the pressure, Punit wilted, despite taking a game off his rival.
Syndrala, having played the defensive Sayanika before, knew what to do when it came to the final, and her waiting game with patience and converting all the good points proved her USP. The Delhi paddler could not come to grips and faltered.
It was a disappointing exit for Balamurugan, who went down to Priyanuj 1-3 in the Boys’ semifinals. The meek surrender by the Tamil Nadu player baffled more than Priyanuj’s win because Balamurugan, before coming to Vijayawada, did the unthinkable of completing a hat-trick of wins in the three previous outings this season.
However, you cannot take away the credit from the Assam lad, who kept the Tamil Nadu boy under check all the time except in the second game. But the loss was momentary as Priyanuj wrapped it up quickly.
In the other semifinal, Punit did well to outsmart Sudhanshu Maini of Delhi 3-0. Punit, who faced a gritty opponent in Rajkhowa Roy of Assam in the quarterfinal, did not take any chance against the Delhi boy, who had a fine outing against Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra, who grabbed the silver in the Vadodara championships.
Sudhanshu led 2-0 in the quarters but dropped the third game to the tall boy from Maharashtra. In a fast-paced quarterfinal game, Sudhanshu kept his cool and outlasted an error-prone Kushal to enter the medal-reckoning phase for the first time this season. But a subdued Sudhanshu lost the opportunity to progress further and had to be satisfied with the bronze medal.
Sayanika Maji of Delhi beat Saanvi Roy 3-0, making amends for her loss in Vadodara. Saanvi, the finalist in her previous outing, was out of sorts against the defensive Sayanika, who didn’t need any further invitation to finish in style. Syndrella, with a triple-gold from the last championships, was up to the task against Nandini Saha, also from West Bengal. Syndrala won 3-1 for another shot at the crown.
Results:
Youth Boys U-17: Final: Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) bt Punit Biswas (AAI) 13-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7.
Semifinals: Priyanuj bt Balamurugan (TN) 11-4, 3-11, 11-3, 11-8; Punit Biswas bt Sudhanshu Maini (Del) 11-6, 11-8, 11-6.
Quarterfinals: Balamurugan Rajasekaran bt Sarthak Arya (PSPBA) 3-0; Priyanuj Bhattacharyya bt Sehgal Singh (Man) 3-1; Sudhanshu Maini bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 3-1; Punit Biswas bt Rajkhowa Roy (Asm) 3-2.
Youth Girls U-17: Final: Syndrela Das (WB) bt Sayanika Maji (Del) 11-8, 15-13, 11-6.
Semifinals: Sayanika Maji bt Saanvi Roy (WB) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Syndrela Das (WB) bt Nandini Saha (WB) 11-3, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8.
Quarterfinals: Sayanika Maji bt Soumya Das (WB) 3-0; Saanvi Roy bt Ditsa Roy (WB) 3-1; Nandini Saha bt Subhankrita Datta (NCOE) 3-0; Syndrela Das bt Hardee Patel (Mah) 3-2.
