Shubha, Taneesha and Sayali strike it rich with gold medals

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai, November:Unfancied Shubha Bhat of Thane scored stunning victories en route to clinching the gold medal in the girls under-21 singles, while Nashik girls Taneesha Kotecha and Sayali Wani ruled the roost winning the girls’ under-17 and under-19 singles titles respectively in the RYP-Dr. Ramesh Yashwant Prabhoo Memorial 1^st Maharashtra State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021-2022, conducted by TSTTA under the auspices of the MSTTA and played at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul, Vile Parle on Sunday.

In the girl’s under-21 final, the unseeded Thane paddler Shubha proved no match for fourth seed Ananya Chande of TSTTA, Mumbai and trailed 1-3. But, Shubha displaying plenty of resilience and not prepared to throw in the towel went for broke and her fighting efforts bore fruits as she managed to turn things around by winning the remaining three games in succession to clinch a hard-fought 4-11, 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8 and 13-11 verdict in the best-of-7-game encounter. Earlier, Shubha recorded a shock straight games win against second seed Meghana Karandikar of Thane with the game scores reading 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 and 11-8 in her favour.

Earlier, the Nashik girls Taneesha and Sayali, both produced domineering performances in the respective gold medal matches. The second-seed Taneesha playing confidently dropped just one game in defeating Thane’s fourth Shravani Sawant 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6 to bring cheer in the Nashik camp.

There was more joy for the Nashik contingent as second seed Sayali Wani encountered a bit of late resistance from Nagpur’s eighth seed Jennifer Verghese before managing to charge towards an 11-1, 11-8, 15-13 and 12-10 success.

Results: Girls U-17 – Quarter-finals: 1-Sayali Wani (NSK) beat 9-Jennifer Verghese (NGP) 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-14, 9-11, 11-3, 11-1;

4-Shravani Sawant (THN) beat 5-Radhika Sakpal (PNA) 11-3, 16-14, 11-3, 11-7;

11-Shubha Bhat (THN) beat 3-Pritha Vartikar (PNA) 11-8, 12-10, 14-12, 3-11, 2-11, 4-11, 13-11;

2-Taneesha Kotecha (NSK) beat Hardee Patel (TSTTA) 12-10, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4.

Semi-finals: 4-Shravani Sawant (THN) beat 1-Sayali Wani (NSK) 7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9;

2-Taneesha Kotecha (NSK) beat 11-Shubha Bhat (THN) 9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-5, 16-14.

Finals: 2-Taneesha Kotecha (NSK) beat 4-Shravani Sawant (THN) 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3, 11-6.

Girls U-19 – Quarter-finals: 8-Jennifer Verghese (NGP) beat Mukta Dalvi (TSTTA) 11-6, 2-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6;

4-Vidhi Shah (TSTTA) beat 5-Ananya Chande (TSTTA) 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7;

3-Pritha Vartikar (PNA) beat 6-Sampada Bhiwandkar (TSTTA) 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 15-13, 11-6;

2-Sayali Wani (NSK) beat 7-Shravani Sawant (THN) 4-11, 8-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9.

Semi-finals: 8-Jennifer Verghese (NGP) beat 4-Vidhi Shah (TSTTA) 10-12, 11-4, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8;

2-Sayali Wani (NSK) beat 3-Pritha Vartikar (PNA) 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9.

Finals: 2-Sayali Wani (NSK) beat 8-Jennifer Verghese (NGP) 11-1, 11-8, 15-13, 12-10.

Girls U-21 – Quarter-finals: 1-Aadyashree Jog (THN) beat Priyanka Gupte (THN) 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6;

4-Ananya Chande (TSTTA) beat Ananya Sakhakale (NGP) 11-6, 11-2, 7-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7;

Hardee Patel (TSTTA) beat Khyati Gautami Pandey (THN) 11-4, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5;

Shubha Bhat (THN) beat 2-Meghana Karandikar (THN) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8.

Semi-finals: 4-Ananya Chande (TSTTA) beat 1-Aadyashree Jog (THN) 6-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-2, 11-9, 11-2;

Shubha Bhat (THN) beat Hardee Patel (TSTTA) 8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 14-12, 8-11, 12-10.

Finals: Shubha Bhat (THN) beat 4-Ananya Chande (TSTTA) 4-11, 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8, 13-11.