81st UTT Junior & Youth Nationals
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 4: Top-seeded Maharashtra A, justifying their top billing, defeated sixth-seeded Karnataka by 3-1 to book their berth in the Junior Girls final of the 81st UTT Junior and Youth Nationals at the Indoor Hall of the M.A. Stadium here today.
But it was the sixth-seeded Bengal A team that surprised second-seed Uttar Pradesh with a 3-2 win to consign the latter to a lesser medal in the second semifinal, thus earning a meeting with Maharashtra A in the title clash tomorrow.
However, in Junior Boys semifinals, both the top two seeds, Delhi and Gujarat, kept their date with destiny and stormed into the final, beating Maharashtra A 3-1 and Mizoram 3-2, respectively.
The girls’ tough draw meant that both the top teams had to really fight hard to survive and in the case of Maharashtra, things were made rather easy when Swastika Ghosh opened against Anargaya Manjunath with a 3-0 score. Diya Chitale consolidated with her trademark play and subdued Yashaswini Ghorphade. But the Karnataka duo fought back to pull one down in the doubles against the Maharashtra pair but it was not sufficient as Diya beat Anargaya in straight games to enter the final.
On the other hand, the second semifinal was a see-saw battle in which Bengal A led 2-1 after the teams shared the first singles spoils, thanks to an enterprising doubles encounter. But soon the initiative was lost when Poymantee Baishya lost her reverse singles to Radhapriya Goel, who tasted first success when she beat Munmun Kundu, to take the issue to the last rubber.
Suhana Narjinary, who played brilliantly, until the decider against Mumnun in the reverse singles lost her way midway through and despite a late launch, it was not to be.
As for the Junior Boys, Delhi had a strong squad in Payas Jain and Yashansh Malik who provided a comfortable 2-0 lead but the duo of Payas and Shreyaans Goel received a setback when it failed to counter the Maharashtra pair of Deepit Patil and Chinmaya Somaiya as well in the doubles. Nevertheless, Payas in his inimitable way finished off in style with straight games victory over Chinmaya.
But it was really a laboured win for Gujarat boy who had to counter the offensive and defensive duo of Jeho and Alberto. Jeho, completely out of sorts, played a below-par match today and that effectively put Gujarat on the path of victory. Dhariya Parmar beat Jeho in five games but Alberto restored parity and soon the Mizoram boys were in lead when they took the doubles. But in the two reverse singles, the Gujarat boys proved too good, especially Chitrax Bhatt, who outplayed Jeho, before Dhariya could drive the final nail in the Mizoram coffin.
Results (Team Events):
Junior Boys: Semifinals: Delhi bt Maharashtra A 3-1 (Payas Jain bt Deepit Patil 11-9, 14-12, 12-10, Yashansh Malik bt Chinmaya Somaiya 11-9, 12-10, 11-13, 3-11, 11-6, Payas/Shreyaans Goel lost to Deepit Patil/Chinmaya Somaiya 11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 12-14, Payas Jain bt Chinmaya Somaiya 11-6, 11-5, 11-9); Gujarat bt Mizoram 3-2 (Dhairya Parmar bt Jeho 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, Chitrax Bhatt lost to L. Alberto 4-11, 8-11, 9-11, Dhariya/Chitrax lost to Jeho/Alberto 11-8, 2-11, 3-11, 11-6, 7-11, Chitrax Bhatt bt Jeho 11-6, 11-9, 11-3, Dhariya Parmar bt Alberto 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7).
Quarterfinals: Delhi bt Haryana 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Tamil Nadu 3-1, Mizoram bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Gujarat bt Karnataka 3-0.
Junior Girls: Semifinals: Bengal A bt Uttar Pradesh 3-2 (Mumnun Kundu lost to Radhapriya Goel 9-11, 11-4, 9-11, 8-11, Poymantee Baishya bt Suhana Narjinary 13-11, 11-4, 11-6, Munmun/Poymantee bt Radhapriya/Suhana 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, Poymantee Baishya lost to Radhapriya Goel 11-7, 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, Munmun Kundu bt Suhana Narjinary 11-9, 15-13, 3-11, 11-13, 11-7); Maharashtra A bt Karnataka 3-1 (Swastika Ghosh bt Anargaya Manjunath 11-8, 11-6, 11-4, Diya Chitale bt Yashaswini Gorhpade 11-5, 11-7, 11-9, Diya/Swastika lost to Anargaya/Yashaswini 15-13, 5-11, 6-11, 10-12, Diya Chitale bt Anargaya Manjunath 11-8, 11-6, 11-5).
Quarterfinals: Maharashtra A bt Telangana 3-0, Karnataka bt Assam 3-0, Bengal A bt Delhi 3-2, Uttar Pradesh Bengal B 3-1.
Youth Boys: Quarterfinals: Delhi bt Assam 3-0, Telangana bt Maharashtra B 3-1, Maharashtra A bt Haryana 3-1, Mizoram bt Bengal B 3-2.
Youth Girls: Quarterfinals: Bengal A bt Delhi 3-1, PSPBA bt Karnataka 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Haryana 3-1, Telangana bt Gujarat 3-1.
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