Dr. Ramesh Prabhoo Memorial 82nd Maharashtra State Table Tennis Championship
Pritha Vartikar of Pune showed strong fighting qualities to quell the spirited fight from local challenger Ananya Chande (TSTTA) and claim the Sub-junior girls’ singles title in the Dr. Ramesh Prabhoo Memorial 82nd Maharashtra State Table Tennis Championship organized by The Suburban District Table Tennis Association(TSTTA) and played at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul, Vile Parle, Mumbai on Wednesday.
Pritha Vartikar Sub Jr Girls State Champion
In well-contested and thrilling final, both Pritha and Ananya played their hearts out and the contest went to the wire with the former managing to win by recording a well deserved 8-11, 15-13, 10-12, 11-5, 15-13, 10-12 and 11-6 win.
Earlier in the semi final encounters, TSTTA’s Ananya got the better of Jennifer Verghese of Nagpur in a long drawn 7-game encounter winning at 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and 11-5 to seal her place in the final. However, Ananya’s teammate Mukta Dalvi was not successful in her semi-final tie against Pune’s Pritha Vartikar and went down fighting. The Pune girl played steadily to overcome Mukta by a 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9 and 12-10 match scores.
A match in progress at PTKS Vile Parle
The summit clash witnessed long rallies and both Pritha and Ananya had to slug it out to earn their points. Playing in familiar surroundings, Ananya made a promising start by winning the first and third games to enjoy a 2-1 lead. But her opponent from Pune managed to grab a close second game and then comfortably won the fourth to level scores. Pritha then snatched a tight fifth game to take a crucial 3-2 advantage.
Ananya showed great character in the sixth, which she won over extra points. Trailing 2-7 Ananya drew level at 8-all and went on to hold two game points which Pritha managed to save and extend the game into extra points. The Mumbai girl won the next two points to win the tense sixth and force the decider. In the deciding seventh game Pritha played with more aggression while Ananya made quite a few unforced errors which allowed the former to win the game and close out the match for a satisfying triumph.
The organisers have made very good arrangements at the venue and the match schedule has been cleverly designed to complete each event one after the other, to avoid unnecessary gathering of players from other events. Yesterday they completed the Cadet girls event and today they finished the Sub Jr. Girls event very systematically.
Results –
Quarter-finals: Jennifer Verghese (NGP) beat Tanisha Kotecha (NSK) 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 1-11, 11-5; Ananya Chande (TSTTA) beat Keisha Jhaveri (MCD) 11-5, 11-5, 13-11; Mukta Dalvi (TSTTA) beat Sayali Wani (NSK) 11-9, 4-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4; Pritha Vartikar (PNA) beat Risha Mirchandani (TSTTA) 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 13-11.
Semi-finals: Ananya Chande (TSTTA) beat Jennifer Verghese (NGP) 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5; Paritha Vartikar (PNA) beat Mukta Dalvi (TSTTA) 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10.
Finals: Pritha Vartikar (PNA) beat Ananya Chande (TSTTA) 8-11, 15-13, 10-12, 11-5, 15-13, 10-12, 11-6.