UTT national-ranking tournament – The Hindu

Manush Shah who won the men’s title.

Diya Chitale who clinched the women’s singles crown.

Manush Shah of RBI denied Ankur Bhattacharjee a double as he won his maiden senior title in the UTT National-ranking table tennis tournament at the Jimmy George indoor stadium here on Thursday.

Manush overcame a spirited challenge from Ankur 11-2, 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11 in the men’s final. He clattered his forehands to all corners of the table to take the first set quite easily at 11-2.

But Ankur didn’t allow Manush any leeway in the second and nailed points with backhand jabs to win it 11-4. However, Manush overcame the brief slump in form to dominate the third set.

Ankur called the shots in the fourth set, which he won 11-8. But Manush fought back and profited from Ankur’s unforced errors to win the fifth set 11-8. The sixth was closely fought with Ankur coming back to equalise at seven. He saved three match points before Manush regained his composure to win the match.

RBI’s Diya Chitale came back from behind to down Swastika Ghosh (AAI) 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in the women’s final.

Swastika led in all the sets but failed to seize her chances and committed errors at crucial junctures. Diya’s fighting spirit was best exemplified in the fourth set in which she trailed from start. But once she equalised the scores at 8-8, there was little Swastika could do.

Swastika’s challenge wilted away and her errors increased in the fifth set which Diya won 11-7 to pocket the match.

Ankur and Syndrela Das (Bengal) won the titles in the under-19 boys and girls’ sections respectively.

The results: Men: Final: Manush Shah (RBI) bt Ankur Bhattacharjee (PSPB) 11-2, 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11; Semifinals: Ankur bt Akash Pal (RSPB) 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8; Manush bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 10-12, 11-7, 13-10, 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7.

Women: Final: Diya Chitale (RBI) bt Swastika Ghosh (AAI) 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7; Semifinals: Diya Chitale (RBI) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 11-4, 8-11, 14-12, 12-10.

U-19: Boys: Final: Ankur bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9; Semifinals: Ankur bt Punit Biswas (Ben) 11-6, 13-11, 8-11, 11-7; Kushal bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) 5-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6.

Girls: Final: Syndrela Das (Ben) bt Ananya Chande (Mah) 11-8, 13-11, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4; Semifinals: Syndrela bt Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 10-12, 11-1, 11-7, 12-10; Ananya bt Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 14-12, 11-5, 14-12.