Maharashtra boys, PSPB girls win Youth TT nationals

Alappuzha (Kerala), Nov 28: If Maharashtra had been on a roll, it was a downswing of sorts for the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) at the 76th Junior National and Youth Table Tennis Championships at the Radha Convention Centre here on Friday.

Maharashtra, who claimed the Junior Boys title after 25 years, made the Youth Boys crown their own humiliating Delhi 3-0 in the final even as the PSPB Youth Girls just about managed to wrest the title (holders West Bengal were ousted earlier) from a determined Maharashtra A team. PSPB won 3-2 in two hours.

After defeating PSPB in the semis Thursday, Sanish Ambekar and Ravindra Kotiyan made Delhi sweat for every point. But in the end it was Maharashtra who emerged champions after seven years. They had last won at Surat when they beat Tamil Nadu in the final.

Unseating PSPB was a difficult task and having accomplished this, Delhi were easy prey. Sanish gave a fine start, Ravindra consolidated with another fine show only for Siddesh Pande to finish off in style. Delhi could never match up with Maharashtra's intensity.

In the Youth Girls section, though Manika Batra gave PSPB a winning start, beating Mallika 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, Reeth Rishya struggled against Charvi Kawle. The latter did not allow any liberty to her PSPB rival. However, what gave a semblance of change to PSPB was Archana Kamath Girish.

The latest entrant in PSPB, the girl from Karnataka, put it across Maharashtra's weak link Ashlesha Trehan in straight games. But Charvi brought Maharashtra back on track with a wonderful match against Manika.

Charvi kept Manika engaged keeping the ball on the table. Manika, making too many mistakes, wilted under pressure. In the end, it was left to Reeth who made up for the first singles loss by beating a visibly tired Mallika.

Local girl Maria Rony Thursday missed a great opportunity of winning the Junior Girls singles crown, losing to Shruti Amrute of Maharashtra.

Maria, who also entered in the Youth Girls team events with Kerala, could not bear the burden of having to play too many matches and lost despite winning the first game in the final.

Results

Youth Boys: Team Final: Maharashtra bt Delhi 3-0 (Sanish Ambekar bt Himashu Jindal 11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, Ravindra Kotiyan bt Shivam Shrivastava 2-11, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, Siddhesh Pande bt Peeyush Prasad 13-11, 11-9, 11-5).

Youth Girls: Team Final: PSPB bt Maharashtra A 3-2 (Manika Batra bt Mallika Bhandarkar 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, Reeth Rishya lost to Charvi Kawle 11-6, 8-11, 4-11, 4-11, Archana Kamath bt Ashlesha Trehan 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, Manika Batra lost to Charvi Kawle 8-11, 11-13, 11-2, 8-11, Reeth Rishya bt Mallika Bhandarkar 14-12, 11-6, 11-4).

Junior Girls: Singles Final: Shruti Amrute (MHA) bt Maria Rony (KER) 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5).