Indore, September 30:
Harmeet Desai and Manika Batra, both of PSPB, registered contrasting victories to bag the men’s and women’s singles crowns respectively in the 11Even Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Abhay Prashal Indoor Stadium.
Manika Batra of PSPB (right) and Harmeet Desai of PSPB, winners of the women’s and men’s singles titles
While Desai made short work of PSPB teammate Subhajit Saha coasting to an authoritative 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9) win, in the best-of-7-game men’s singles final, Batra encountered a strong challenge before prevailing over her teammate Madhurika Patkar 4-3 (11-6, 8-11, 5-11,11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8) in the women’s singles final.
Meanwhile, Manav Thakkar yet again managed a double when he blanked out West Bengal’s Ronit Bhanja in the Youth Boys final, while in Youth Girls’ final, Archana Kamath of AAI humbled Rajasthan’s Priyanka Pareek, who was the Junior Girls champion at Chandigarh. Both, Manav and Archana scored 4-0 victories, making the finals a completely one-sided affairs.
Results –
Youth Girls Singles (final): Archana Kamath Girish (AAI) bt Priyanka Pareek (Raj) 4-0 (11-7, 13-11, 11-3, 11-7). Semi-finals: Archana Kamath bt Sagarika Mukherjee (RSPB) 4-1 (11-9, 13-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9); Priyanka Pareek bt Sreeja Akula (AAI) 4-2 (7-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7).
women singles (final): Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (PSPB) 4-3 (11-6, 8-11, 5-11,11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8). Semi-finals: Manika Batra bt Divya Deshpande (PSPB) 4-1 (11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9); Madhurika Patkar bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 4-2 (9-11-11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8).
Youth Boys Singles (final): Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja (AAI) 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5). Semi-finals: Manav Thakkar bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 4-2 (11-6, 3-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9); Ronit Bhanja bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 4-2 (11-5, 5-11, 12-14, 13-11, 11-8, 11-4).
Men’s Singles (final): Harmeet Deasai (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9). Semi-finals: Subhajit Saha bt Jubin Kumar (PSPB) 4-2 (5-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8); Harmeet Desai bt Utkarsh Gupta (Del) 4-2 (11-3, 8-11, 12-14, 11-6, 11-3, 13-11).
Photo: Champions! Manika Batra of PSPB (right) and Harmeet Desai of PSPB, winners of the women’s and men’s singles titles in 11even Sports National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships, pose with their trophies and certificates.