Sathiyan stops Harmeet juggernaut; Reeth captures maiden women’s title
Surat January, 28 : G Sathiyan of PSPB had to dig in deep and play his best TT to stop the Harmeet Desai (PSPB) juggernaut and bag the men’s title of the Second UTT National Ranking Championships being played at the PDDU, Indoor Stadium in Surat on Saturday.
The world No. 40 defeated the 2022 Gujarat National Games champion and local boy Harmeet 4-1 to win his first national ranking title in almost three years.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympian was off to a quick start and won two consecutive games. Desai pulled the third game back but the lanky Tamil Nadu lad tightened the strings and put the game to bed by winning the next two.
“This is the first national title after my marriage. Beating the local boy in Surat was special. I dedicate this victory to my wife,” the 30-year-old said.
Surat turned out lucky venue for the 27-year-old Reeth Rishya Tennison as the PSPB paddler toppled the 2022 Gujarat National Games’ winner Sutirtha Mukherjee gold medallist to capture her maiden women’s national ranking title.
While Mukherjee and Tennison fought a close battle, Reeth held her nerve a little better in the end to beat the RSPB girl 4-2.
“I have played 7-8 finals but lost them all. Today, I was playing ball by ball not thinking about the result,” a teary Tennison said.
In the mixed doubles final, Payas Jain and Yashaswini Ghorpade overcame a minor mid-match slump to defeat FR Snehit and Diya Chitale 3-2 to win the title.
All finals results:
Men’s: G Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 4-1 (11-8, 18-16, 5- 11, 11-4, 11-5)
Women’s: Reeth Rishya Tennison (PSPB) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (RSPB) 4-2 (11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11, 15-13, 11-8)
Mixed doubles: Payas Jain (DEL) & Yashaswini Ghorpade (KAR) bt Snehit Rafeeque Fidel (AAI) & Diya Chitale (MAHA A) 3-2 (11-9,0-11,6-11,11-4,11-7)
Under 19: Boys: Ankur Bhattarcharjee (BEN A) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 4-0 (12-10,11-2,11-3,11-4)
Girls: Jennifer Varghese (MAHA B) bt Sayali Wani (MAHA B) 4-1 (9-11,11-2,11-7,11-9,11-3)