Mizoram’s Lalrin Puia and Delhi’s Manika Batra claimed the Youth Boys and Youth Girls titles, beating PSPBA’s Manav Thakkar and West Bengal’s Kaushani Nath in the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships which concluded in the Indoor Stadium Dharamshala on Sunday. Both winners secured a similar 4-1 verdict to stamp their authority.It was the first title for Puia, the PSPBA boy who turned out for his state, and came in what turned out to be a one-sided affair against Manav, who was tired after the Junior Boys final. The former, a defensive player, wore out Manav leading 3-1 before shutting his opponent out in the fifth game itself.Manika, who has had a fantastic season, proved her mettle yet again beating the West Bengal girl Kaushani after some struggle despite leading 3-0. Himachal Urban development minister Sudhir Sharma gave away the prizes . He said that Dharamshala shall organize an international TT tournament next year and for that the preparations are already started .
Results:
Junior Boys Singles (Final): Siddhesh Pande (Mah) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) 4-2 (11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8); Semifinals: Siddhesh Pande bt Manush Shah (Guj) 4-1 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3), Manav Thakkar bt Ananth Devarajan (TN) 4-3 (11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-13, 5-11, 11-1, 11-5).
Doubles: Final: Anirban Ghosh/Abhimanyu Mitra (WB) bt Ananth Devarajan/Sachinviswanath S 3-1 (11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5).
Junior Girls Singles (Final): Kaushani Nath (WB) bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (TN) 4-3 (9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 3-11, 11-5); Semifinals: Kaushani Nath bt Yashini Sivashankar (TN) 4-3 (6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9), Selenadeepthi Selvakumar bt Shruti Amrute (Mah) 4-0 (11-8, 13-12, 11-5, 11-5).
Doubles: Final: Prapti Sen/Surbhi Patwari (WB) bt Moumita Datta/Kaushani Nath (WB) 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-3).
Youth Boys Singles (Final): Lalrin Puia (Miz) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) 4-1 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Lalrin Puia bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 4-2 (9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6), Manav Thakkar bt Ravindra Kotiyan (Mah) 4-1 (11-5, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5).
Doubles: Final: Vivek Bhargava/Pankaj Vishwakarma (Raj) bt Arjun Ghosh/Anirban Ghosh (WB) 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 14-16, 11-8).
Youth Girls Singles (Final): Manika Batra (Del) bt Kaushani Nath (WB) 4-2 (11-1, 11-2, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Manika Batra bt Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) 4-3 (11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5), Kaushani Nath bt Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) 4-1 (11-7, 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-9).
Doubles: Final: Sreeja Akula/Archana Kamath Girish (AAI) bt Ayhika Mukherjee/ Frenaz Chipia (AAI) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-5).