Manush wins maiden men’s crown

Vadodara January, 21 : Playing at home, India’s no. 4 paddler Manush Shah gave the people of Vadodara joy galore as he brought down the giant-killer Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 4-2 to win his maiden men’s title at the UTT National Ranking Championships at the Sama Indoor Complex here on Saturday.

The 22-year-old’s first-ever men’s title coming at home was certainly icing on the cake.

Sudhanshu, who had upset PSPB’s Harmeet Desai in the quarters and Manav Thakkar in the semis, was on his way to beat third Gujarati paddlers on the trot as he was off the blocks quickly to win the first game.

However, the local boy got his act together and won the next two games to inch closer to the men’s crown.

But, the tall and gritty Sudhanshu was in no mood to relent as he came back to win the 4th game.

However, the southpaw rode on the local support and not only bagged the next two games but also the match and walked away with Rs. 77,000 in prize money

In women’s final, RPSB’s Moumita Dutta crushed Archana Kamath of PSPB 4-1 to also win her maiden women’s national title.

Gujarat paddler Manav Thakkar, representing PSPB, and his partner Archana (PSPB) defeated the RBI duo of Raj Mondal and Ayhika Mukherjee 3-1 to win the mixed double title.

Final results: Men’s: Manush Shah (Guj) bt Sudhanshu Grover (Del) 7-11, 12-10, 14-12, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8.

Women’s: Moumita Dutta (RSPB) bt Archana Kamath (PSPB) 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

Mixed Doubles: Final: Manav Thakkar/Archana Kamath (PSPB) bt Raj Mondal/Ayhika Mukherjee (RBI) 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-5.

Youth Boys U-19 Final: Payas Jain (Del) bt Jash Modi (Mah) 3-11, 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11.

Youth Girls U-19: Final: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Yashaswini Ghorpade (Kar) 11-8, 11-2, 14-12, 11-9.