Karnataka’s Natasha retains heyball title by outplaying Padmakshee 5-1 in final

Dominant Natasha Chethan of Karnataka retained her junior girls’ (Under-19) title with an authoritative 5-1 win over Tamil Nadu’s Padmakshee C in the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun late on Wednesday.

Fresh off a splendid bronze medal campaign at the World Junior Championships in Norway two weeks ago, Natasha carried that form into the premier tournament here, hardly putting a foot wrong en route to the title.

Aarav overcomes Mustafa in a thriller to retain heyball title; Natasha routs Aleina in semifinal

Both cueists started tentatively in the race-to-five final. Once Natasha took the opening rack, she discovered her rhythm and range, running through the next three racks in double-quick time and reducing her rival to a mere spectator.

Natasha gets lucky twice

Following an error by Padmakshee midway through the second rack, the Bengalurean made a brilliant run. In the third, she got lucky twice, fluking a striped ball into the top right-hand pocket. With a wave of her hand to her rival, she continued her run, capitalizing on another lucky fluke to the bottom right.

Aarav Sancheti and Natasha Chethan with their trophies

In the fourth rack, Padmakshee began to find her touch but missed the last ball to the bottom left-hand pocket to let Natasha off the hook. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, the tall teenager took the rack.

The Tamil Nadu cueist made a last-ditch effort by pulling one back in the fifth, capitalizing on Natasha’s error. However, she failed to maintain the tempo and committed far too many errors, allowing Natasha to close out the match in the next rack.

The champion cueist from Bengaluru is set to be a major contender in the women’s event that begins on Sunday.

Results: Junior girls: Final: Natasha Chethan (Kar) beat Padmakshee C (TN) 5-1.

Final standings: 1. Natasha Chethan (Kar); 2. Padmakshee C (TN); 3. Gianna Rego (Mah); 4. Aleina Khanna (Del); 5. Usha Jyothi (AP); 6. Angel Kamboj (Har); 7. Harleen Kaur (Pun); 8. Leisha Reddy (Tel).