Talented 17-year-old Mumbai paddler Diya Chitale who represents ‘The Suburban Table Tennis Association’ (TSTTA) , Mumbai produced a strong attacking performance to send Thane’s Shreya Deshpande crashing to a quick 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 defeat in the Youth girls’ singles final of the Dr Ramesh Prabhoo Memorial 82nd Maharashtra State Table Tennis Championship organized by The Suburban District Table Tennis Association and played at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul, Vile Parle, Mumbai on Friday evening.
Diya Chitale in action
With this win Diya not only brought the first title to TSTTA in this prestigious State Championship, but also stopped the winning run of Pritha Vartikar, who had won two titles ( Sub Jr. Girls & Jr. Girls events) in this championship during the last two days. Pritha was competing in her third event today. The third title in the Cadet Girls event on the first day was won by little Riana Bhuta from Thane.
The energetic Diya, who is the reigning double National champion having won the Junior girls and Youth girls’ singles crowns in Jammu in December 2019, was in full flow and attacked from the start and she managed to force the pace against a defensive Shreya who was unable to offer much resistance to try and curb the onslaught from the Mumbai girl.
Diya Chitale is all smiles, as she poses with the Trophy she won in the Youth Girls Singles event
Both, Diya and Shreya showed nerves at the beginning and started hesitantly and they made quite a few unforced errors before the former managed to win the first game over extra points. In the second Diya having gained in confidence came into her own and in a jiffy wrapped up the game to extend her lead to 2-0.
In the third game, Shreya showed signs of getting back into the match and raced to a 7-2 lead. But Diya not prepared to give up staged a splendid fightback as she reeled off nine straight points on the trot to take the game and enjoy a commanding 3-0 cushion. Thereafter, there was no looking back for Diya who went on to pocket the fourth game and close out the contest to complete a satisfying day after playing a total of eight matches.
Earlier, both the semi-final encounters turned out to be one-sided affairs. Diya was in her elements and produced a solid display to outsmart Solapur’s Samruddhi Kulkarni winning by the short route 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 and 11-8 scoreline.
In the other semis, Shreya Deshpande of Thane encountered a bit of resistance from Anannya Basak (TSTTA) but managed to ease through winning in five games at 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 14-12 to advance to the final.
Results – Youth girls’ singles –
Quarter-finals: Diya Chitale (TSTTA) beat Pritha Vartikar (PNA) 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7; Shreya Deshpande (THN) beat Sayali Wani (NSK) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7; Anannya Basak (TSTTA) beat Manasi Chiplunkar (Mumbai City) 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4; Samruddhi Kulkarni (SOL) beat Manushree Patil (TSTTA) 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3.
Semi-finals: Shreya Deshpande (THN) beat Anannya Basak (TSTTA) 14-12; Diya Chitale (TSTTA) beat Samruddhi Kulkarni (SOL) 11-5, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8.
Finals: Diya Chitale (TSTTA) beat Shreya Deshpande (THN) 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7.