Anthony Amalraj bagged his third men’s singles crown of the year in the national ranking circuit by defeating local favourite Sanil Shetty 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 in the summit clash of the 11Sports National Ranking Championships (West Zone) in Thane on Sunday.
The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board player, who decided to concentrate on the domestic circuit while the top ranked stars were busy with their international commitments, made the most of his opportunity to completely dominate Shetty and add to his South Zone and East Zone titles and take top spot in the ranking list.
Amalraj went on the attack straight away and by the time Shetty managed a counter-ploy, the eventual champion was 3-0 ahead. The Mumbai lad did win the fourth set but it was too late in the day for any comeback.
Earlier, Sutirtha Mukherjee upset Olympian Manika Batra 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 to clinch her second title of the season.
Manika won the first game and had every chance to increase the lead but squandered it in the second after deuce. That probably upset her rhythm and Sutirtha’s superior defence saw her run away with the match.
Ayhika, Manav win
In the Youth girl’s final, Ayhika Mukherjee ended her title draught ahead of the Nationals by beating Kaushani Nath of West Bengal 13-11, 11-4, 11-6, 16-18, 11-6.
Manav Thakkar put it across Ronit Bhanja of West Bengal 11-4, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8 to clinch the Youth boy’s final after missing out on the junior crown on Saturday.
Results:
Men Singles:
Final: Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8.
Semi-finals: Sanil Shetty bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 8-11, 15-13, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4; Anthony Amalraj bt Sougata Sarkar (LIC) 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7.
Women Singles:
Final: Sutirtha Mukherjee (WB) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7.
Semi-finals: Manika Batra bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 11-6, 11-8, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9; Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 11-4, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10.
Youth Boys Singles:
Final: Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja (WB) 11-4, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8.
Semi-finals: Ronit Bhanja bt Siddesh Pande (MHR) 11-3, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5; Manav Thakkar bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 11-3, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7.
Youth Girls Singles:
Final: Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) bt Kaushani Nath (WB) 13-11, 11-4, 11-6, 16-18, 11-6.
Semi-finals: Kaushani Nath bt Sreeja Akula (RBI) 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 12-10, 6-11, 14-12; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Prapti Sen (WB) 11-3, 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7.
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