Manav Thakkar of PSPB was on song and claimed triple crowns, winning the Youth Boys and Junior Boys singles titles and then adding the Junior Doubles for his best ever collection of trophies at the 11Even Sports 78th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the SAMA Indoor Complex, which concluded On Wednesday.
Manav Thakkar
In Junior Boys final, Delhi’s Parth Virmani was no match to a rampaging Manav who unleashed attacking strokes. Manav also cleverly varied his services to push Parth on the back foot and win 4-0. This was Manav’s second national title after he won his first at the Alleppey nationals two years ago. He narrowly missed both Junior and Youth singles titles at Dharamsala after reaching the finals.
In Youth Boys final, it was a tough ask for Manav when he had to return to the table after the Junior Boys final. Facing PSPB teammate, Abhishek Yadav, who showed his true form in the semifinal against Birdie Boro, also of PSPB, Manav made his intent loud and clear. Earlier, Manav had accounted for Pankaj Vishwakarma of Rajasthan in straight games.
Abhishek Yadav, with a fantastic semifinal win against teammate Boro to boot, was exposed to the hilt when Manav started the onslaught. No doubt, both executed fierce forehands and indulged in long rallies, but it was Manav who once again dominated the match.
Archana Kamath, after winning the second national doubles title in the company of Sreeja Akula, did not waste any time to outsmart an in-form Moumita Datta of West Bengal to claim her maiden Junior Girls crown. It must have been disappointing for Moumita, who reached three finals here, to bow out in the fashion she did against Archana. Indeed, it was a hard-fought match which the AAI girl won 4-0 but by no stretch or imagination it was all that easy.
However, the West Bengal girl Moumita ensured she returned home with at least the Youth Girls trophy in her kitty when she beat Tamil Nadu’s Harshavardhini Ravichandran 4-0. After running into a 3-0 lead in the final, including an easy third game, she was pushed back somewhat by the Tamil Nadu girl in the fourth.
Results – Junior Boys Singles (Final): Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Parth Virmani (Del) 11-8, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3; Semifinals: Manav Thakkar bt Shivaji Roy 4-0, Parth Virmani bt Snehit Suravajjula 4-0.
Doubles (Final): Manav Thakkar/Chinmaya Somaiya (PSPB) bt Jeet Chandra/Soham Bhattacharya (WB) 3-0.
Junior Girls Singles (Final): Achana G.Kamath (AAI) bt Moumita Datta (WB) 12-10, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10; Semifinals: Achana G.Kamath bt Selenadeepthi 4-2, Moumita Datta bt Priyanka Pareek 4-0.
Doubles (Final): Selenadeepthi.S/Yashini Sivakumar bt Priyanka Pareek/Bhuwaneshwari R 3-2.
Youth Boys Singles (Final): Manav Thakkar (PSPB) bt Abhishek Yadav (PSPB) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3; Semifinals: Abhishek Yadav bt Birdie Boro 4-2, Manav Thakkar bt Pankaj Vishwakarma 4-0.
Doubles Final: Arjun Ghosh/Ronit Bhanja (WB) bt Manav Thakkar/Abisht ek Yadav (PSPB) 3-1.
Youth Girls Singles (Final): Moumita Datta (WB) bt Harshavardhini Ravichandran (TN) 12-10, 11-9, 11-2, 11-8; Semifinals: Harshavardhini bt Sagarika Mukherjee 4-2, Moumita Datta bt Amrutha Pushpak 4-3.
Doubles Final: Archana Kamath/Sreeja Akula (AAI) bt Moumita Datta/Priyadarshini Das (WB) 3-0.