TSTTA youngster Diya tames Shreya to emerge champion

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai, January:Mumbai’s talented 17-year-old paddler Diya Chitale who represents The Suburban Table Tennis Association (TSTTA) produced a strong attacking performance to send Thane’s Shreya Deshpande crashing to a quick 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 defeat in the Youth girls’ singles final of the Dr Ramesh Prabhoo Memorial 82^nd Maharashtra State Table Tennis Championship organized by The Suburban District Table Tennis Association and played at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul, Vile Parle, Mumbai on Friday evening.

The energetic Diya, who is the reigning double National champion having won the Junior girls and Youth girls’ singles crowns in Jammu in December 2019, was in full flow and attacked from the start and she managed to force the pace against a defensive Shreya who was unable to offer much resistance to try and curb the onslaught from the Mumbai girl.

Both, Diya and Shreya showed nerves at the start and started hesitantly and they made quite a few unforced errors before the former managed to win the first game over extra points. In the second Diya having gained in confidence came into her own and in a jiffy wrapped up the game to extend her lead to 2-0.

In the third game, Shreya showed signs of getting back into the match and raced to a 7-2 lead. But Diya not prepared to give up staged a splendid fightback as she reeled off nine straight points on the trot to take the game and enjoy a commanding 3-0 cushion.

Thereafter, there was no looking back for Diya who went on to pocket the fourth game and close out the contest to complete a satisfying day after playing a total of eight matches.

Earlier, both the semi-final encounters turned out to be one-sided affairs. Diya was in her elements and produced a solid display to outsmart Solapur’s Samruddhi Kulkarni winning by the short route 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 and 11-8 scoreline.

In the other semis, Shreya Deshpande of Thane encountered a bit of resistance from Anannya Basak (TSTTA) but managed to ease through winning in five games at 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 14-12 to advance to the final.

Results – Youth girls’ singles – Quarter-finals: Anannya Basak (TSTTA) beat Manasi Chiplunkar (Mumbai City) 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4; Shreya Deshpande (THN) beat Sayali Wani (NSK) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7; Diya Chitale (TSTTA) beat Pritha Vartikar (PNA) 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7; Samruddhi Kulkarni (SOL) beat Manushree Patil (TSTTA) 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 3-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3. Semi-finals: Shreya Deshpande (THN) beat Anannya Basak (TSTTA) 14-12; Diya Chitale (TSTTA) beat Samruddhi Kulkarni (SOL) 11-5, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8. Finals: Diya Chitale (TSTTA) beat Shreya Deshpande (THN) 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7.