The Suburban Table Tennis Association (TSTTA), paddlers Hardee Patel, Rishan Mirchandani and Vidhi Shah from Mumbai won the girls’ under-15, under-17 and under-19 singles titles respectively in the Late Nihal Singh Thakur Memorial 2nd Maharashtra State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, 2021, at The Kalyani School, Manjari, Pune on Sunday.
Hardee, Vidhi, Rishi
In the under-15 competition, the fifth seed Hardee defeated the top two seeds and went on to emerge champion. In the summit clash, Hardee played with solid determination to overcome second seed Shubha Bhat of Thane in seven hard-fought games winning by 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 15-13, 8-11, 9-11, and 11-6 match scores to win the gold medal. The Mumbai girl Hardee had earlier beaten top-seed and teammate Sana D’Souza 11-5, 14-12, 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, and 11-4.
The under-17 contested between Pune’s top seed Radhika Sakpal and TSTTA’s 11-seed Risha Mirchandani witnessed a battle of fluctuating fortunes before the latter managed to win in seven games. Risha held her nerves to carve out a deserving 11-5, 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 13-11, 9-11, and 11-9 victory and pocket the gold medal.
Meanwhile, the top-seeded Vidhi did not encounter any resistance from 11-seeded Radhika Sakpal of Pune and smoothly cruised to victory winning in five games at 12-10, 11-4, 11-13, 11-6, and 11-8 to emerge triumphant.
Results: Girls under-15 – Semi-finals: 5-Hardee Patel (TSTTA) beat 1-Sana Dsouza (TSTTTA) 11-5, 14-12, 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4; 2-ShubhaBhat (THN) beat 6-Sayali Baxi (NSK) 11-2, 13-11, 6-11, 10-12, 13-11, 12-10.
Final: Hardee Patel (TSTTA) beat Shubha Bhat (THN) 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 15-13, 8-11, 9-11, 11-6.
Girls’ under-17 – Semi-final: 1-Radhika Sakpal (PNA) beat 4-Aarya Songadkar (THN) 13-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8; 11-Risha Mirchandani (TSTTA) beat 10-AnanyaChande (TSTTA) 11-5, 11-7, 6-11, 11-13, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5.
Final: Risha Mirchandani (TSTTA) beat Radhika Sakpal (PNA) 11-5, 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-9.
Girls’ under-19 – Semi-final: 1-Vidhi Shah (TSTTA beat 4-Samruddhi Kulkarni (SOL) 11-4, 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-6; 11-Radhika Sakpal (PNA) 2-Shravani Sawant (THN) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7.
Final: Vidhi Shah (TSTTA) beat Radhika Sakpal (PNA) 12-10, 11-4, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8.