GANDHIDHAM, June 23: Shlok Bajaj saw his impressive run in the Junior Boys (U-17) Singles at the 83rd Junior & Youth National Table Tennis Championships 2021 end with a heartbreak after his semifinal loss. The Championship was held at Alappuzha, Kerala from 17th to 23rd June, 2022.
In Semifinals, Unseeded Shlok failed to keep the momentum going as he suffered a 1-4 (5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 5-11, 4-11) loss against Chaudhury Bodhisatwa of Bengal-A.
Shlok started his campaign by winning the qualifying rounds and then defeating Anindya Halder (NCOE) 3-1 (8-11, 11-2, 12-10, 12-10) in the First round of the Main Draw. In the 2nd Round, Shlok caused a major upset by overcoming India Ranked 7th Shankhadip Das of Bengal A 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7).
In the Pre-quarters, the Surti paddler defeated 10th Seed Srikanth Kashyap P V of Karnataka 3-1 (11-7, 11-5, 14-16, 11-7). In quarters, Shlok won the marathon match against Punit Biswas of (Bengal – B) 4-3 (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-7).
“A big congratulations to Shlok, he came out with an impressive performance at the Junior National Championships which should give him the much needed confidence, we hope to see him perform well for gujarat in the upcoming season” GSTTA president Vipul Mittra, IAS, said.
