Aafrien, Chitrax claim Junior titles
GANDHIDHAM ,FEB 07 : Surat’s Aafrien Murad and Chitrax Bhatt of Ahmedabad lifted the Junior Girls and Boys titles respectively at the Stiga Cosco Gujarat State Table Tennis Championships 2020 at Gandhidham late on Saturday. Aafrien defeated Namna Jayswal of Bhavnagar while Chitrax halted Shlok Bajaj in the final.
Gujarat State Table Tennis Association, with the support of Kachchh District Table Tennis Association, has organised the State TT Championships 2020,
The Junior Girls final had the all ingredients to blockbuster with match stretched to the best-of-seven-games. If Namna displayed her skills with some exceptional backhand returns, Afrien was good at her forehand attacking display. Leading 3-1, Afrien by her admission got little relaxed and Namna took full advantage winning the fifth and sixth game with identical score 11-4. “It was a time when got little nervous. However, I didn’t allow myself from getting defocused. And In decider I once again played my natural attacking game and won it,” said Aafrien, who won the Junior Girls final after a gap of three years.
In semifinals, Aafrien got the better of her citymate Milli Tanna 6-11 11-6 11-8 11-6 7-11 11-9. Namna struggled before overcoming Kausha Bhairapure 8-11 11-7 12-10 11-8 6-11 5-11 11-3 in the other semifinal. Interestingly, the quarterfinal was very emotional one for Namna as she stopped younger sister Riya’s dream run in the competition with a 3-1.
Meanwhile the boys final was complete contrast. Chitrax dropped just one game enroute to 11-7 9-11 11-6 11-6 11-6 win over Shlok Bajaj of Surat. The lanky paddler from Ahmedabad was hardly made to sweat. Shlok raised a few eyebrows when he defeated Abhilash Raval of Ahmedabad 9-11 11-8 16-14 8-11 6-11 11-5 11-8. In contrast, Chitrax consumed four games as he registered a 11-2 11-5 11-7 11-8 win over Buhranuddin Malubhai of Surat.
In the Youth Category played on Sunday, young Riya Jayswal and Shlok Bajaj continued their upset run. In the first round of the the Youth Girls section Bhavnagar-based Riya outplayed seasoned Youth paddler and former champion Prarthna Parmar 11-8 11-6 9-11 11-7.
Surat’s Shlok Bajaj proved too strong for Riyan Dutta. In the qualifying round of Youth Boys section, Shlok made his intentions clear when hedefeated Riyan in straight games 11-7 11-5 11-6 to top the group.
RESULTS
Junior
Boys
Semifinals: Shlok Bajaj (srt) bt Abhilash Raval (ahm) 9-11 11-8 16-14 8-11 6-11 11-5 11-8; Chitrax Bhatt (Ahm) bt Burhanuddin Malubhai (Srt) 11-2 11-5 11-7 11-8
Final: Chitrax Bhatt bt Shlok Bajaj 11-7 9-11 11-6 11-6 11-6
Girls
Semifinals: Namna Jayswal (Bvn) bt Kausha Bhairapure (Ahm) 8-11 11-7 12-10 11-8 6-11 5-11 11-3; Aafrien Murad (Srt) bt Milli Tanna (srt) 6-11 11-6 11-8 11-6 7-11 11-9
Final: Aafrien Murad bt Namna Jayswal 11-5 7-11 11-8 11-3 4-11 4-11 11-6