Maharashtra girl Sayali wins Sub-junior TT crown

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai, March : Maharashtra paddler Sayali Wani showed great character and a cool composure as she got the better of the top two seeds Suhana Saini of Haryana and compatriot Pritha Vartikar on way to clinching the Sub-Junior girls’ singles crown in the UTT 82nd Cadet & Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships.

The 15-year-old Nashik girl Sayali played with tremendous confidence to come from behind to sent top seed Suhana packing to a tight 4-3 defeat in the final. Earlier in the penultimate round, Sayali produced a solid attacking performance to stun her Maharashtra teammate and defending champion Pritha by recording a straight game 4-0 win.

The final was a closely fought affair and as expectedly the top seed Suhana dictated the shots initially and opened up a 3-2 lead. But, Sayali displaying solid fighting spirit did well to win the sixth and force the match to the distance. In the deciding seventh game the Haryana girl raced ahead before Sayali saved a match point to level scores at 10-all. The Maharashtra paddler then went on to also win the next two points to complete a satisfying 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10 victory and emerge champion.

Sayali for her wonderful efforts received the ‘champions’ trophy and a cheque of Rs 33,000, while Suhana got Rs 16,500.

Results – Sub-Junior Girls singles: Final: Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Suhana Saini (Har) 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10.

Semi-finals: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 4 – 3 (11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 5-11, 12-14, 11-6); Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6.

Quarter-finals: Sub-Junior Girls: Quarterfinals: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Ananya Chande (Mah) 11-4, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9; Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) bt Kaashvi Gupta (Del) 11-6, 13-11, 11-2, 11-3; Sayali Wani (Mah) bt Vartica Bharat (UP) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9; Pritha Vartikar (Mah) bt Deshna Vanshika (Kar) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4.