Double for Sathiyan
Olympian paddler Ankita Das went down to West Bengal’s Krittiwicka Sinha Roy in the girls’ singles final, but it was a double delight for Gnasekaran Sathiyan, who bagged both singles and doubles titles in boys’, at the 74th Junior and Youth National table tennis championships on Sunday.
Ankita was at an advantageous position, leading 2-1. Top-seeded Krittiwicka then opened up her game and took away the match 4-2 (7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4) to pocket the crown.
Sathiyan defeated Tamil Nadu’s Nithin Thiruvengadam 4-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6) to defend his singles title. Earlier, Sathiyan combined with Sourav Saha to take the boys’ doubles crown. They beat Nithin and Sushmit Sriram 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6) in the final.
Results (all finals): Youth boys: G Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Nithin Thiruvengadam (TN) 4-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6). Doubles: G Sathiyan/Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Nithin Thiruvengadam/Sushmit Sriram (TN) 3-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6). Junior boys: Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 4-2 (15-13, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8). Doubles: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Pankaj Vishwakarma/Surojit Das (PSPBA) 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-3).
Youth girls: Krittiwicka Sinha Roy (WB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-2 (7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-4). Doubles: Nikhat Banu/Karnam Spoorthy (AP) bt Reeth Rishya/Suthirtha Mukherjee (PSPB) 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-3).
Doubles: Maria Rony/Seraha Jacob (Ker) bt S Narasimha Priya/Amrutha Pushpak (TN) 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 12-10).
