Gujarat paddler Manush emerges as new men’s national TT champion
21-year-old Diya Chitale of RBI grabs Women’s crown
Surat, January 27: Gujarat’’s promising paddler Manush Shah, representing Reserve Bank of India (RBI), showed his table tennis prowess as he defeated Delhi’s Payas Jain 4-1 to clinch his maiden men’s national title at the UTT 86th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships 2024 played at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Indoor Stadium from January 19 to 26.
The Championships is organized by Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) and Table Tennis Association of Surat District (TTASD) under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) with the support of Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
The title sponsor of the event is UTT and the event is powered by Hero, co-sponsored by NJ Group, associate sponsored by Gujarat Tourism, ONGC, Pratibha Group and Airport Authority of India. Stiga will be equipment partners while SIDS Hospital will be the medical partner.
The world no. 78 Vadorara lad Manush lost a close opening game to the 20-year-old Delhi boy Payas but the southpaw was quick to turn the tables and staged a dramatic comeback to win the next four on the trot to seal the match in style and walked away with a winners’ purse of Rs 3.2 lakhs.
For the second year in a row, a Gujarat-grown paddler has lay his hands on the men’s national trophy. Surat’s Harmeet Desai had lifted the 85th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships 2023 held in Panchkula.
Meanwhile, Manush’s RBI teammate Diya Chitale, 21, also won her maiden senior national title after she got past Sreeja Akula, also from RBI, 4-3 and took home equal cash prize money of Rs 3.2 lakh.
Soon after Manush’s famous victory, GSTTA announced Rs 2.5 lakh prize-money award for their state’s paddler while Table Tennis Association of Baroda also declared Rs 1.5 lakhs reward to Vadodara’s most successful paddler yet.
“Just recently, I reached my career-best world ranking of 78 and I have been playing well since last six months and carried forward my good form into this championship. I am glad I won my maiden national title in Gujarat,” the 24-year-old Manush said.
GSTTA president shri Pramod Chaudhary was elated with the way Gujarat players excelled in the marquee event conducted in Gujarat on such a big scale.
“Our own Manush winning the biggest title available in domestic circuit in Surat was the high point for us and Gujarat women’s team’s bronze medal was the icing on the cake,” shri Chaudhary said.
Shri Kushal Sangtani, organizing secretary, said that he has received very heartening reviews about the organising of this grand tournament. “I am very happy with the performances of our Gujarat paddlers. I am also delighted to have gotten very positive feedback from players and officials,” shri Sangtani said.
Finals results:
Men’s Singles: Manush Shah (RBI) bt Payas Jain (Del) 4-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8).
Women’s Singles: Diya Chitale (RBI) bt Sreeja Akula (RBI) 4-3 (10-12, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9).
Mixed Doubles: Akash Pal/Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) bt Jash Modi/Taneesha Kotecha (Maha) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-4).