Maiden crown for Karnataka girls; PSPBA boys retain title

But it was Karnataka girls who won several hearts and maiden crown in the sub-junior category in what was a fine come-from-behind 3-2 triumph against Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra A earned the Cadet Girls, beating a determined Delhi 3-1 in the final, but their Cadet Boys could not replicate it against PSPB Academy as the latter emerged 3-0 victorious.

Manav Thakkar was, understandably, the star of the evening in PSPBA’s title triumph as he shaped the team’s fortunate by winning both his singles and also the doubles in the company of Raegan Albuquerque.

But PSPBA lost their opening singles when Snehit Suravajjula easily defeated Raegan. But Manav came in the way of Telangana to deny them what would have been a historic occasion for a team that was making its maiden appearance. Nevertheless, Telangana can take heart from the fact that making it to the final itself was a great achievement.  

Karnataka’s fortune turned around when both Archana Kamath and Kushi Viswanath combined well in the doubles to bring some respite to their camp. Normally a very dependent Tamil Nadu pair of Selenadeepthi and Yashini, were taken to cleaners as the Karnataka duo won 3-1.

From there, it was Karnataka all the way as Archana beat 11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 11-7. The fast-paced match saw several rallies and good strokes being played with Archana taking sweet revenge for her first singles loss to Yashini.

With the team score level at 2-2, the onus was on Kushi to bring out her best against Yashini, who is a higher ranked player. But Kushi, shedding all inhibitions, went on the attacking mode right from the word go and it paid her rich dividends and eventually the team. Attacking on both flanks and playing close to the table, Kushi forced Yanishi on the backfoot and went 2-0 up.

But in the next game, Yashini came back very well and when it looked as if she would take the rubber to the decider, Kushi played some brilliant backhand shots successfully indulging in long rallies. What gave her and team the power was Kushi managed to keep the ball in play and on the table when it was needed to force her opponent commit the mistakes. Though she won the fifth game by a minimum margin of 11-9, she deserved all the limelight despite being in some discomfort during the final.