Austine, Sanskar bag titles at ISC Open
MUSCAT: Austine Mondigo and Sanskar cornered glory at the Villeroy & Boch + Hansgrohe Open Table Tennis Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club. Austine Mondigo of the Philippines bagged the girls’ singles titles and Sanskar Dubey claimed the boys under-13 singles title.
Austine, who had dominated the league phase of the girls event, was on top of her game and played a brilliant all-round game to defeat Arundhati Ramesh 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, 11-2. Arundhati looked off-colour but made here presence felt in the third game. But Austine showed consistency on both flanks and used forehand topspin effectively to emerge winner.
Sanskar Dubey claimed the boys under-13 singles crown after scoring an impressive 12-10, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 victory over challenger Allan Thiyagaseelan. Allan put Sanskar under pressure and held a slender advantage before the second seed rallied to win the first game. Allan maintained the pressure but Sanskar held his game together to win the title.
Austine Mondigo advanced to the final of the women’s singles after defeating Arundhati for the second time. In the semifinal, though, Mondigo had to fight hard for victory. Austine held her nerves to edge past a valiant Arundhati with final scores of 12-10, 12-10, 11-64-11, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9. In the final, Austine will take on Manavi Sarawanan who outplayed Pallavi Singh 11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 17-15.