Ritvik Gupta of Delhi and Tamil Nadu’s Ananya Muralidharan produced contrasting performances under pressure to capture the Under-17 boys’ and girls’ titles, respectively, at the Second National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Hall in Panchkula on Sunday.
Ritvik had to dig deep to overcome West Bengal’s Aditya Das in a five-game final, recovering from a promising start that slipped away before regaining control in the deciding game. After clinching the first two games by narrow margins, Gupta saw Aditya fight back to level the contest at 2-2. However, Gupta raised his game when it mattered most, dominating the decider to seal a 3-2 victory and claim the boys’ crown.
Ananya, meanwhile, showed composure and resilience to get past Karnataka’s Tanishka Kalbhairav in four games. After taking the opening game, Muralidharan was pegged back as Tanishka levelled the match. The Tamil Nadu paddler responded strongly in a closely fought third game before closing out the contest in the fourth to secure a 3-1 win and the girls’ title.
Ritvik was at his clinical best, defeating Haryana’s Duklan Vatsal 3-0 in the semifinals. He had earlier beaten Maharashtra’s Shouren Soman in straight games in the quarterfinals, while Duklan secured his semifinal berth with a 3-0 win over Maharashtra’s Prateek Tulsani.
Aditya staged an impressive comeback to overcome compatriot Rishaan Chattopadhyay 3-2 in a thrilling semifinal. Aditya had earlier battled past Punjab’s Sahil Rawat 3-2 in the quarterfinals, while Rishaan edged Tamil Nadu’s K. Akshay Bhushan by the same margin to reach the last four.
Himon Mondal and Tanishka Kalbhairav fight hard to claim Under-15 boys & girls titles
In the girls’ section, Ananya from Tamil Nadu delivered a composed performance to defeat Maharashtra’s Swara Karmarkar 3-0 in the semifinals. Ananya had negotiated a five-game quarterfinal against Maharashtra’s Divyanshi Bhowmick, while Swara secured her semifinal spot with a straight-games victory over Delhi’s Tushti Sood.
Karnataka’s Tanishka Kalbhairav produced one of the most absorbing encounters of the round, edging West Bengal’s Ahona Ray 3-2 in a fluctuating semifinal. Tanishka had beaten Maharashtra’s Naisha Rewaskar 3-1 in the quarterfinals, while Ahona overcame Maharashtra’s Riana Bhoota by the same margin.
With the finalists decided in both sections, attention now turns to the title clashes, which will be played later this evening.
Results: Under-17 boys (final): Ritvik Gupta (Del) beat Aditya Das (WB) 12-10, 14-12, 8-11, 6-11, 11-2. Semifinals: Ritvik beat Duklan Vatsal (Har) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5; Aditya beat Rishaan Chattopadhyay (WB) 9-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8. Quarterfinals: Ritvik beat Shouren Soman (Mah) 3-0; Duklan beat Prateek Tulsani (Mah) 3-0; Rishaan beat K. Akshay Bhushan (TN) 3-2; Aditya beat Sahil Rawat (Pun) 3-2.
Under-17 girls (final): Ananya Muralidharan (TN) beat Tanishka Kalbhairav (Kar) 11-6, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8. Semifinals: Ananya beat Swara Karmarkar (Mah) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9; Tanishka beat Ahona Ray (WB) 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5. Quarterfinals: Ananya beat Divyanshi Bhowmick (Mah) 3-2; Swara beat Tushti Sood (Del) 3-0; Tanishka beat Naisha Rewaskar (Mah) 3-1; Ahona beat Riana Bhoota (Mah) 3-1.
Pic: PingSunday
