Third title for Manav, second for Archana

LUCKNOW: A consistent Manav Thakkar of the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy (PSPBA) got the lion’s share yet again, winning a third title in the sub-juniors boys category of the North Zone national ranking table tennis championships at the Eklavya Indoor stadium in Agra on Thursday.

Manav defeated West Bengal’s Jeet Chandra 4-1 to win the crown. Karnataka’s Archana Kamath, proving her superiority, won the second zonal title of the season in sub-junior girls. She downed Tamil Nadu’s Yashini Sivashankar 4-1 rather easily.

In cadet category, Alberto Lrruata annexed the crown after defeating team mate Jeho 4-0 in the boys category, while Vanshika Bhargava of Delhi took the girls title with a 4-1 verdict against Haryana’s Suhana Saini. This was the second crown for the Delhi girl this season.

It was a repeat third final in as many meetings for Manav and Jeet and in all the three the latter, despite working hard, could not overcome the PSPBA boy.

His supremacy against the opponent reflected in the final on Thursday and. His shot selection, covering acute angles and employing backhand as a potent weapon, the boy from Surat decimated his rival.

As for Archana, who was part of the Asian squad in the World Cadet Challenge at Georgetown, Barbados, easily won the girls title to pick up the thread from where she left of at Gandhidham last month. She was too good for any serious threat from Tamil Nadu’s Yashini Sivashankar.

Earlier in the day, UP’s Sarthak Seth failed to cross the semi-final hurdle, losing to the eventual winner as he lost 0-4. Sarthak’s struggle continued, particularly against an in-form Manav.

The UP boy had done himself and the state proud to have gone past the quarterfinals and enter the second successive semifinal. To that extent, he should feel satisfied even as he tries to up his level of game.

UP can also feel happy to see Saundarya Pathak’s rising graph. She too had been steady and for the second time she has made it to the sub-junior girls semifinals. But her opponent from Tamil Nadu proved to be a hard nut to crack as did Archana who downed West Bengal’s Surbhi Patwari—the two finalists winning 4-0.

RESULTS Sub-junior boys singles (final): Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 4-1 (11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7); Semi-finals: Manav

Thakkar bt Sarthak Sethi (UP) 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9), Jeet Chandra bt Ashwin Subramanian (MHR) 4-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9).

Sub-Junior girls singles (final): Archana Kamath (KNT) bt Yashini Sivashankar (TN) 4-1 (11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7); Semi-finals: Yashini Sivashankar (TN) bt Saundarya Pathak (UP) 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10), Archana Kamath (KNT) bt Surbhi Patwari (WB) 4-0 (15-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8).

Cadet boys singles(final): Alberto Lrruata (PSPBA) bt Jeho H (PSPBA) 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9); Semi

finals: Jeho H bt Varun Shankar (TELG) 3-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-7), Alberto Lrruata bt Payas Jain (DLI) 3-1 (14-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6).

Cadet girls singles (final): Vanshika Bhargava (DLI) bt Suhani Saini (HRN) 4-1 (6-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4, 11-8);

Semi-finals: Suhana Saini (HRN) bt Koyal Bhattacharya (WB) 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8), Vanshika Bhargava (DLI) bt Divya Chaitalay (MHR) 3-2 (11-9, 13-15, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8).