Fourth seeds Bhatnagar International School, from Delhi, led by Payas Jain and Yashansh Malik, emerged the Senior Boys champion when they beat Goa’s Loyola High School 3-1 to lift the glittering trophy in the final of the 11Even Sports Inter-School National Championships at the Sama Indoor Complex.
Last year’s runners-up Siliguri Girls High School from North Bengal were crowned Senior Girls’ champions after they defeated SBOA School from Tamil Nadu 3-1 in what was a painfully long final duel.
Nikita Sarkar won the crucial reverse singles by winning the last three points after her opponent M Yazhini made the cardinal blunder of pushing too much and too far when situation demanded an attacking game. But what helped the Tamil Nadu school to keep their hopes alive was when their doubles pair V. Vaishnavi and R. Trisha scored over the Siliguri duo of Nikita and Diksa Biswas by a 3-2 scoreline. But with the entire burden on Nikita, she saw to it that she kept her cool and won both her singles.
In the boys’ title clash, Delhi schoolboy Yashansh was surprised by Goa Wesley, but Payas made it 1-1 when he beat Jaeden 3-0 and then the two Vasant Kunj schoolboys mixed well to go 2-1 following their doubles win. Yet, when Wesley took on Payas in the reverse singles, the latter was all over his rival who had no clue to Payas’ blistering forehands. No doubt, southpaw Wesley did all that was possible of him but it was too little to undo the Delhi boy on this day.
However, it was surprising that Jamnabai Narsee School had to return home without a trophy to show this year. They had won both Senior Boys and Junior Boys titles in the inaugural edition at Indore.
In fact, after their exit in the semifinals, the only consolation was the presence of Nalanda Public School from Thane, Maharashtra, but even their hopes were dashed when Kalyani Public School’s Prithoki Chakraborty and Oishiki Joardar denied them the chance of laying their hands on the glittering winner’s trophy with an emphatic 3-0 verdict in the final. It was a completely one-sided match with some resistance from the Maharashtra side coming only in the doubles.
In Junior Boys, Karantaka’s Sri Kumaran Children’s Home beat the stuffing out of UP’s Cambridge Convent 3-2, thanks to the former’s crucial doubles win. With Sujan Bharadwaj and Jagdish Aakash Kale Gowda in their ranks, things became rather easy as the two combined well to outwit their rivals that had this year’s Cadet champion in Divyansh Srivastava.
Results:
Junior Girls – Final: Kalyani Public School (WB) bt Nalanda Public School (Mah) 3-0 (Oishiki Joardar bt Meghna Mandar 11-6, 11-6, 16-14, Prithoki Chakraborty bt Aarya Yogesh S 11-4, 11-3, 11-5, Oishi/Prithoki bt Meghna/Aarya 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8).
Junior Boys – Final: Sri Kumaran Children’s Home (Kar) bt Cambridge Convent (UP) 3-2 (Aakash KJ lost to Divyansh Srivastava 12-14, 12-14, 9-11, Sujan Bharadwaj bt Chinmoy 11-2, 11-6, 11-2, Srikanth/Sujan bt Divyansh/Chinmoy 12-10, 11-4, 11-6, Sujan Bharadwaj lost to Divyansh 13-15, 8-11, 8-11, Aakash KJ bt Chinmoy 11-5, 11-6,11-4).
Senior Girls – Finals: Siliguri Girls High School (NB) bt SBOA School (TN) 3-1 (Nikita Sarkar bt V. Vaishnavi 11-4, 11-5, 11-3, Diksa Biswas b M Yazhini 11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 12-10, Nikita/Diksa lost to Vaishnavi/R. Trisha 8-11,8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, Nikita Sarkar bt M. Yazhini 9-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-7).
Senior Boys – Finals: Bhatnagar International (Del) bt Loyola High School (Goa) 3-1 (Yashansh Malik lost to Wesley Do Rossario 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-4, 6-11, Payas Jain bt Jatlen Gomes 11-2, 11-1, 11-5, Yashansh/Payas bt Wesley/Jatlen 5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, Payas Jain bt Wesley Do Rossario 11-5, 11-8, 11-5).