India No.4 Reeth Risya, formerly from Chennai and now settled in Mumbai after marrying another international Sanil Shetty, came out from the brink to upstage top seed and another international, Divya Deshpande 4-3 to bag the women’s singles crown in the All India Balkan-Ji-Bari Dilip Sampat Memorial 5-Star Mumbai Suburban District Table Tennis Championships, here today.
Divya, who relishes fast paced rallies, jumped to 3-0 lead before Reeth brought her best in the fourth which she won over extra points. Reeth’s winning this game, brought her confidence back as she went on to win the next two games with some breath-taking forehand smashes. However, the decider, turned out to be touch and go affair. Divya, who was on match point leading 10-8 and serving, not only messed up with her service, she let Reeth off the hook, who saved three match- points before she pocketed the game and tie 8-11, 6-11, 5-11, 15-13, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11.
The corresponding men’s singles final saw fast-rising Ashwin Subramaniam, seeded third, went on to outplay Ravindra Kotiyan, a former state champion, in straight games (11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7) to bag the crown. Incidentally, Ashwin had to his battle hard against second seeded Bhavesh Apte (11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 6-11, 11-6) in the semifinals. While Ravindra got a walkover from Shivam Das. Ashwin later bagged the youth boys singles title as well, beating Ritvik Nagle 11-5, 11-5, 12-10, 11-2.
Aarya Redkar Midget Girls Champ
Another District champion who stole the show was little Aarya Redkar who won her third title of this season in the midget Girls section. 6 year old Aarya from Rustomjee International School, Dahisar, won a very close match 3-2 against Niva Chaugule, which displayed her killer instinct. She is certainly a player to watch , as she started playing tournaments only this year.Aarya trains at Superior Table Tennis Academy.
Results:
Men’s singles (Final): Ashwin Subramanian bt Ravindra Kotiyan 11-4, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7. (Semi finals): Ashwin Subramanian bt Bhavesh Apte 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5, 10-12, 6-11, 11-6; Ravindra Kotiyan w/o Shivam Das.
Women’s singles (Final): Reeth Rishya bt (1)-Divya Deshpande 8-11, 6-11, 5-11, 15-13, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11; (Semi finals): Divya Deshpande bt Shweta Joshi 11-7, 14-12, 11-5, 12-10; Reeth Rishya bt Anannya Basak 11-8, 14-12, 11-4, 10-12, 11-9.
Youth boys singles (Final): Ashwin Subramanian bt Shivam Das 11-6, 10-12, 10-12, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7. (Semifinals): Shivam Das bt Arnav Karnavar12-10, 8-11, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7; Ashwin Subramanian bt Ritvik Nagle11-5, 11-5, 12-10, 11-2.
Youth girls singles (Final): Anannya Basak bt Ananya Chande 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-5, 11-4. (Semifinals): Ananya Chande bt Risha Mirchandani 13-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-14, 13-15, 11-5; Anannya Basak bt Pearl Amalsadiwala 11-8, 11-5, 11-8, 11-9.
Jr boys’ singles (Final):Ritvik Nagle bt (1)- Rajveer Shah 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9. (Semifinals): Ritvik Nagle bt Shivam Das 11-8, 11-9, 7-11,11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9. (1)- Rajveer Shah bt Aadil Anand 11-5, 14-12, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8.
Jr girls singles (Final): Risha Mirchandani bt Hardee Patel 11-4, 7-11, 13-11, 15-11, 11-5. (Semifinals): Hardee Patel Pearl Amalsadiwala 11-4, 6-11, 5-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-5. Risha Mirchandani bt Mukta Dalvi 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3, 3-11, 11-7.
Sub-jr boys singles (Final): (1)- Rajveer Shah bt Akshat Jain 11-7, 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7. (Semifinals): Akshat Jain bt Sagar Kasture 11-3, 11-4, 12-14, 11-8; Rajveer Shah bt Mainak Nistalia 11-6, 11-3, 11-8, 12-210;
Sub-jr girls singles (Final): Ananya Chande bt Mukta Dakvi 12-10, 3-11,11-8, 11-6, 8- 11, 11-5. (Semifinals): Mukta Dalvi Risha Mirchandani 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5; Ananya Chande bt Hardee Patel 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8. .
Cadet boys Finak : Yuvraj Yadav bt Dhruv Shah 11-1, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4.
Cadet girls Final : Mrunalini Singh bt Swera Salgaonkar 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8.
Midget boys Final : Vivaan Thakkar bt Zihar Hasan 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8.
Midget girls Final : Aarya Redkar bt Niva Chaugule 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 15-13.