Surat: In what turned out to be an-all Assam boys and all-Delhi girls finals, Priyanuj Bhattacharyya and Avisha Karmakar claimed the Under-15 Youth Boys and Youth Girls titles in the UTT National Ranking Championships at the DD Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here today.
Both finals had all the thrills one would expect, but eventually, the fittest survived. Priyanuj lost the first two games but made amends in the next four to defeat a tired Divyaj 4-2, while Avisha defeated Sayanika Maji 4-3.
Avisha played with some authority, and Sayanika was on the back foot straight away. She did wage a fight in the second, but after the deuce, she failed to take the last two points. Avisha continued with her winning ways, and with a 3-0 cushion, she should have wrapped it up earlier than she did against Sayanika. But the latter fought back well to bring down the equation. Before she could gain control, Avisha played aggressively to take the title.
Lanky Segal Singh of Manipur had to dig into his reserves to eliminate Punit Biswas, the winner at Vadodara, in the fourth quarterfinal and win 3-2. Punit comfortably led 2-1 until the Manipur lad launched himself in the fourth game and won it on extended points. Having done that, it became easy for Segal to wrap it up in the decisive fifth game.
But for this lone competitive match, the other quarterfinals failed to raise any din, as Priyanuj of Assam dropped a game before beating Arjav Gupta of Delhi 3-1, Abhinand from Tamil Nadu defeated Soham Mukherjee of West Bengal 3-0, and Divyaj Roy of Assam downed Umesh Kumar of Tamil Nadu 3-1.
Priyanuj went into top gear to lead 3-0 against Abhinand in the first semi-final. Abhinand suddenly hit a rhythm to startle his opponent and reduced the margin to 2-3. The boy from Assam gained control again and ensured he didn’t make any mistakes this time.
The second semi-final was tantalisingly poised when Divyaj Roy of Assam managed to make it 3-3 against Segal Singh, taking the issue to the decider. His confidence soaring and Segal faltering at crucial stages, Divyaj held seven match points before shutting out his Manipur opponent.
Prachi Muzumdar from Assam displayed her ability to fight till the end, and it yielded good results when she outwitted Ananya Muralidharan from Tamil Nadu 3-2. Prachi’s 15-13 win in the second game came after saving three game points and eventually pushed her to the next stage. It came in handy in the last game as she claimed the crucial two points after the deuce to enter the semi-final.
In the three other quarterfinals, Sayanika Maji blanked out Jennifer Varghese 3-0, as did Suhani Mahajan over Subhankrita Datta and Avisha Karmakar over their respective opponents for smooth sailing into the semis.
Though she lost the first game to Suhani Mahajan, Sayanika’s dominance continued in the semi-final as the Delhi girl went on to win the next four, including the last two on extended points. Avisha Karmakar led 2-0 before losing the third game to Prachi Mazumdar. But Avisha warded off any threat to complete the task.
Results:
Youth Boys U-15: Final: Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) bt Divyaj Roy (Asm) 7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10, 11-9.
Semi-finals: Priyanuj Bhattacharyya bt P.B. Abhinand (TNTTA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-6; Divyaj Roy bt Segan Singh (Man) 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3.
Quarterfinals: Priyanuj Bhattacharyya bt Arjav Gupta (Del) 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9; P.B. Abhinand bt Soham Mukherjee (Ben) 11-7, 11-2, 11-6; Divyaj Roy bt Umesh Kumar (TNTTA) 13-11, 7-11, 11-0, 11-7; Segal Singh bt Punit Biswas (Ben) 8-11, 11-9, 11-13, 12-10, 11-8.
Youth Girls U-15: Final: Avisha Karmakar (Del) bt Sayanika Maji (Del) 11-4, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6.
Semi-finals: Sayanika Maji bt Suhani Mahajan (UP) 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 14-12, 13-11; Avisha Karmakar bt Prachi Mazumdar (Asm) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7.
Quarterfinals: Sayanika Maji bt Jennifer Varghese (Mah) 11-9, 11-8, 11-8; Suhani Mahajan bt Subhankrita Datta (NCOE) 13-11, 12-10, 11-4; Prachi Muzumdar bt Ananya Muralidharan (TNTTA) 6-11, 15-13, 11-9, 2-11, 12-10; Avisha Karamakar bt Bhoota Raina (Mah) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5.
–TTFI
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