Kausha, Chitrax win Junior Girls and Boys titles respectively
Vidhyanagar Sept. 7: Ahmedabad’s Kausha Bhairapure saved one match point to battle past Filzahfatema Kadri of Surat to win the Junior Girls’ crown at the ongoing 4th Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2019 in Vidhyanagar on Saturday. Chitrax Bhatt of Ahmedabad achieved a rare feat when he completed a treble with the Junior Boys title.
The Junior Girls final seemed to be a repeat of Youth summit clash where Kausha and Filzah met the previous day. The Surti looked in control of the match and was on the verge of yet another double of the season. Both Filzah and Kausha entertained the crowd with some breathtaking rallies. In the fifth game Filzah’s forehand return forced an error from Kausha and the Surti stood on the verge of the title. Filzah was up 3-1 and leading 10-9 in the fifth game.
But Kausha kept it simple without much experiments. “At that juncture my plan was simple, to keep the ball on table and allow her to make a mistake,” said Kausha.
The plan paid off as Filzah trying to hit a winner, ballooned the ball over the table. Taking advantage of the situation Kausha not only won the fifth but also the next game to take the match into the decider.
The Amdavadi with some delightful backhand winners and pulsating rallies emerged 9-11 11-6 9-11 7-11 12-10 12-10 11-9 winner. It was a sweet revenge for Kausha after having lost the Youth Girls final to Filzah. “Would have felt bad if I had returned home without a trophy,” said Kausha.
Meanwhile, in the boys section it was Chitrax all the way. A frame of six feet, Chitrax took very little time to dispatch Bhavnagar-based Karanpal Jadeja. After losing the first game 8-11, Chitrax came back strongly to win next four games and the final 8-11 11-9 11-4 11-6 11-5.
Karanpal was also guilty of unforced errors. On four occasions, Karanpal’s returns went flying over the arena. “Having beaten him 4-0 earlier in the tournament, I was confident of my victory. However, it wasn’t easy. He came up with good counter attacks in the first game. I changed my strategy and placed returns on either side of table, forcing him to play false shots,” said Chitrax, who had won Men’s and Youth Boys crowns on Friday.
Results
Junior girls
Semis
Filzahfatema Kadri (srt) bt Aafrien Murad (srt) 11-5 8-11 11-3 11-4 11-9, Kausha Bhairapure (ahm) bt Charmi Patel (bvn) 13-15 11-3 11-9 11-7 5-11 11-8
Final
Kausha Bhairapure (ahm) bt Filzahfatema Kadri (srt) 9-11 11-6 9-11 7-11 12-10 12-10 11-9
Junior Boys
Semis
Karanpal Jadeja (bvn) bt Shlok Malpani (srt) 11-4 11-9 11-13 11-5 12-10, Chitrax Bhatt (ahm) bt Dhairya Parmar (ahm) 11-8 3-11 11-9 11-7 13-11
Final
Chitrax Bhatt (ahm) bt Karanpal Jadeja (bvn) 8-11 11-9 11-4 11-6 11-5