JOIN USSabhay, Suthirtha emerge champs
Delhi’s Sabhay Virmani and Suthirtha Mukherjee of West Bengal claimed the Junior boys’ and girls’ titles in the South Zone National-ranking table tennis championships at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor stadium here on Saturday.
Sabhay registered a come from behind 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 victory over Rohit KR of Tamil Nadu to win the boys’ crown while Suthirtha upset the second ranked Karnam Spoorthy of Airports Authority of India (AAI) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 to win the girls’ title.
After Rohit prevailed in a close first game, the left-handed Sabhay dominated proceedings with his strong backhand play to win the next four games 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.
In the girls’ summit clash, Suthirtha stunned Spoorthy with her superb returns and power-packed forehand to claim her first junior title. The 14-year-old from Naihati near Kolkata was elated with her performance.
“ Initially I found difficult to adjust to her serve but as the game went on I was able to adjust and grew in confidence. I am happy that I could beat a higher ranked player,’’ Suthirtha added. Meanwhile, India No 1 Achanta Sharath Kamal was made to sweat by Jignesh Jaiswal of Gujarat before he prevailed 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7 to reach the Men’s semifinals.
Kamal was disappointed after he was stretched to the sixth game.
“Quite unhappy with the way the game went. I was playing very fast and struggled with my rhythm a little bit. I have played him before and was looking to complete the game quickly,’’ the 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist added.
In the Women’s section, top seed Poulomi Ghatak cruised into the semifinals defeating Mausmi Paul of PSPB 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5.
Results: Men: Quarterfinals: Achanta Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Jignesh Jaiswal (Guj) 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-4, 10-12, 11-7; Jubin Kumar (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9; Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Sushmit Sriram (AAI) 10-12, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 12-14, 11-8; Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) bt R Abhishek (TN) 11-8, 11-5, 11-6, 4-11, 6-11, 13-11.
Youth boys: Semifinals: G Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Nishad Shah (AI) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8; Sourav Saha (PSPB) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) 11-6, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3. Junior boys: final: Sabhay Virmani (Del) bt KR Rohit (TN) 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.
Women:
Quarterfinals: Poulomi Ghatak (PSPB) bt Mausmi Paul (PSPB) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5; K Shamini (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 10-12, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-3; Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 11-1, 17-15, 13-11, 11-9; Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Mamata Prabhu (DB) 12-10, 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6.
Youth girls:
Semifinals: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Nikhat Banu (AAI) 1-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-9; Krittiwika Sinha Roy (AAI) bt V Sneha (IB) 12-10, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4.
Junior girls: final: Suthirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Karnam Spoorthy (AAI) 11-5, 11-3, 11-7, 11-5.
Semifinals: Suthirtha bt Mallika Bhandarkar (AI) 13-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-8; Karnam Spoorthy bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 13-11, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 14-12.