Paddlers Sreeja, Amalraj triumph

Chandigarh, June 27 

Akula Sreeja stunned former national champion and fourth seeded Sutirtha Mukherjee of Haryana 4-2 to win the women’s singles title on the concluding day of the UTT National Ranking (North Zone) Table Tennis Championships in Sonepat on Thursday.

The Reserve Bank of India paddler came back from a deficit of two games to beat Sutirtha 6-11 7-11 14-12 13-11 11-9 11-9 in the final. 

Sreeja earlier won a tough semifinal match against Madhya Pradesh’s Anusha Kutumbale which did a world of good to her confidence going into the final.

“It was unexpected. But the win against Anusha gave me the confidence. After winning the third and fourth games in the final, I knew I needed a bit of luck to clinch it,” said the girl from Hyderabad.

Amalraj beats Manav

In the men singles final, Anthony Amalraj was at his best against top seeded Manav Thakkar as he raced to the title with an emphatic 11-9 12-10 11-8 9-11 11-8 win.   

Earlier, in the semifinals, Thakkar had registered an 11-7 11-9 6-11 11-9 11-6 win over Sanil Shetty, while Amalraj overcame Sudhanshu Grover 8-11 11-6 11-3 11-8 11-13 8-11 11-2. — TNS