Deepit Rajesh Patil and Prapti Sen won their maiden Junior Boys and Junior Girls titles in the 11Sports National Ranking (South Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the DRM Municipal Indoor Hall on Sunday.
Both finals went down to the wire. Deepit overcame Raegan Albuquerque 4-3 and Prapti, with defeat staring at her face at 1-3, fought fervently to triumph 4-3 over Madhya Pradesh’s Anusha Kutumbale.
The Boys’ final was difficult to predict as Deepit and Raegan indulged in fast rallies and drove well, taking alternate games. But when the latter missed his first match-point in the decider, Deepit seized the advantage.
Cashing in on the first opportunity, with serve on, sent down the crucial winner to lift the trophy.
A similar scenario was more or less enacted by the two girls but Prapti had to pull herself out of depth before outwitting her rival. Both players employed their backhands effectively. But what clinched the final in Prapti’s favour was a service fault by the Indore girl as she sent down scorching forehands without being challenged.
Earlier, Deepit Patil’s execution of shots proved to be too good in the semi-finals and using both flanks he undid Shivjit’s brave efforts in the first game. Out of steam, the Delhi boy surrendered meekly (4-0).
Raegan, a former PSPB Academy boy who now plays for Maharashtra, had the measure of state-mate Chinmaya Somaiya in the first two games before allowing the latter to stage his recovery to his discomfort. But Raegan, driving brilliantly with a powerful forehand, stopped his rival’s progress by taking the next two games for a 4-2 triumph.
Prapti Sen, with her perseverance, beat Nikita Sarkar of North Bengal 4-3 in an engrossing semifinal encounter. The West Bengal girl was superior with his attacks and a subdued Nikita went down 1-3. However, the North Bengal girl made fine efforts, capitalising on Prapti’s mistakes, especially when she faulted on her backhand, and levelled 3-3. However, in the decider Prapti managed to pull it off in the nick of time with the least margin.
Madhya Pradesh’s Anusha Kutumbale was visibly in trouble after being down 0-2 and then 3-2 against Maharashtra’s Manushree Patil. But she raised her game in the last two even as Manushree was faulting on many occasions to emerge victorious 4-3 and secure her place in the final.
Among Junior Girls, top-seed Swastika Ghosh of Maharashtra lost to eighth seed Nikita Sarkar 1-4 (17-15, 7-11, 6-11, 10-12, 7-11) in the quarterfinals. Third-seed Radhapriya Goyal of Uttar Pradesh lost without a fight in the second round itself to Delhi’s Lakshita Narang 0-3.
Results:
Junior Boys
Final: Rajesh R. Patil (Mah) def Raegan Albuquerque (Mah) 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11
Semi-finals: Deepit Rajesh Patil def Shivjit Singh Lamba (Del) 11-9, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6; Raegan Albuquerque def Chinmaya Somaiya (Mah) 14-12, 11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6
Quarterfinals: Deepit R. Patil def Manush Shah (Guj) 12-10, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9; Shivjit Singh Lamba def Adarsh Om Chetri (Del) 9-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-8, 13-11, 11-7; Chinmaya Somaiya def Vishwa Deenadayalan (TN) 11-9, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 11-9; Raegan Albuquerque def Shreyaans Goel (Del) 11-9, 11-3, 11-7, 11-7.
Junior Girls
Final: Prapti Sen (WB) def Anusha Kutumbale (MP) 13-11, 14-16, 8-11, 14-16, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8
Semi-finals: Prapti Sen def Nikita Sarkar (NB) 11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9; Anusha Kutumbale def Manushree Patil (Mah) 5-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 12-14, 11-6, 11-8
Quarterfinals: Nikita Sarkar def Swastika Ghosh (Mah) 15-17, 11-7, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7; Prapti Sen def R.Kajol Sunar (AP) 11-6, 12-14, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7; Manushree Patil def Lakshita Narang (Del) 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Anusha Kutumbale def Suhana Saini (Har) 11-6, 14-12, 11-7, 11-6.
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