Sunil, Kalyani grab TT titles

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 14

Sunil Ahuja of AG Punjab and Kalyani of AG Audit Haryana won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, on the concluding day of the 1st State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, at the Sector 50 Sports Complex here today.

In the men’s final, Ahuja faced a tough resistance from Rishabh Kumar before winning the title. Ahuja won the first game 11-6, but Rishabh bounced back in the next with an 11-6 verdict. Ahuja, though, raced away to a 3-1 lead after winning the next two games 11-8 11-6. In the fifth game, Rishabh again put up a good show to win 12-10, but Ahuja had the last laugh as he took the next game 11-5 to win the title.

In the semifinals, Rishabh logged a comeback 9-11 11-9 11-5 4-11 11-7 11-6 victory over Pankaj Sidana of GGDSD College, Sector 32, while Ahuja beat Sahil Sharma 9-11 11-7 13-11 11-7 11-9.

In the women’s final, Kalyani earned the tile by overcoming Pelf of Learning Paths School, Mohali, in a neck-and-neck fight. Kalyani won the first game 11-9, but Pelf bounced back to take the next two 11-8 11-7. Kalyani, who was at the receiving end against the youngster, kept her calm. She won the next two games 11-8 11-9 to move ahead by 3-2. In the sixth game, after an engrossing battle, Kalyani managed to pull off a 14-12 win to bag the title.

Kalyani had defeated Vibhuti of Stepping Stones School 7-11 11-6 11-7 11-6 14-12 in the first semifinal, while Pelf logged a comeback 5-11 11-1 9-11 11-9 11-8 11-9 win against Deevanshi of St. Kabir School, Sector 26.  

Results (quarterfinals)

Men

Sahil Sharma bt Divaksh Dawar 11-7 11-6 11-9 8-11 11-7, Rishabh Kumar bt Krish Gupta 6-11 11-9 11-4 11-5 11-7, Pankaj Sidana bt Arnav Aggarwal 8-11 11-9 14-12 7-11 11-4 11-6, Sunil Ahuja bt Shaurya Raj 11-6 11-13 11-3 11-9 11-4 

Women

Kalyani bt Arshita Garg 11-9 11-5 11-7 11-4, Vibhuti bt Paavan 9-11 9-11 11-6 13-11 11-8 11-8, Deevanshi bt Vasundhara 11-8 12-10 11-3 11-7, Pelf bt Pareen 11-9 11-8 7-11 10-12 11-7 11-8