Manav Thakkar completed a hat-trick of men singles titles and added the Youth Boys singles crown for a successive double in the 11Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Tournament at Indore on Sunday.
His other two titles came at Greater Noida (2017) and Panchkula (2018), both at North Zone events.
In men’s singles final, he decimated his Haryana rival Jeet Chandra 4-0 and beat Gujarat’s Manush Shah in Youth Boys 4-1 to leave for the Korea Open, beginning two days later, on a high.
Earlier, Pooja Sahasrabudhe defeated Archana Kamath 4-1 in women singles final for her first title in many months to justify her position as third seed.
Jeet, who pulled off a fine win over Manush Shah, was very pedestrian in the final and was unable to respond to Manav’s guile. He pushed more often than he attacked against Manav.
Despite losing the opening game, Pooja dominated Archana the next two games. The latter tried bouncing back in the next when Pooja’s level lowered a bit but eventually lost the game 10-12. Archana’s uncharacteristic unforced errors led to her defeat.
Earlier, Manav won the Youth Boys title, beating Gujarat rival Manush Shah 4-1. Manush seemed drained after a gruelling semi-final against Jeet Chandra and went down easily in the final.
In Youth Girls, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar beat Yashini Sivashankar 4-2 after some struggle. Several unforced errors pushed Yashini on the back foot and Selena cashed in on the opportunities to win her first crown this season.
Results
Men (Final): Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Jeet Chandra (Har) 11-6, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5; Semi-finals: Manav Thakkar bt Raj Mondal (RBI) 16-14, 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8; Jeet Chandra bt Manush Shah (Guj) 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8.
Women (Final): Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) bt Archana Kamath (PSPB) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8; Semi-finals: Archana Kamath bt Surbhi Patwari (WB) 13-15, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10, 11-5; Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Diya Chitale (Mah) 5-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-4, 11-6.
Youth Boys (Final): Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Manush Shah (Guj) 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6, 11-6; Semi-finals: Manav Thakkar bt Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 11-6, 11-2, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4; Manush Shah bt Siddesh Pande (Mah) 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 14-12, 11-7.
Youth Girls (Final): Selenadeepthi. S (TN) bt Yashini Sivashankar (TN) 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9; Semi-finals: Selenadeepthi. S bt Naina (Telg) 10-12, 12-10, 4-11, 5-11, 11-8, 13-11, 12-10; Yashini Sivashankar bt Prapti Sen (WB) 4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 14-12, 14-12.
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