81st UTT Junior, Youth Nationals conclude
*Diya bags double title, Snehit, Payas win maiden titles
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 8: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan today maintained that huge participation of youth in sporting activities is a sign of healthy and prosperous nation.
The Advisor made these remarks during prize distribution and closing ceremony of 81st Junior and Youth National & Inter State Table Tennis Championships held at Multipurpose Hall, MA Stadium here.
Speaking at the ceremony, Advisor Khan complimented the organisers for efficiently organising such events saying that the government has initiated numerous measures towards boosting sports and gaming activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Describing children as architect of a nation, Advisor Khan said sports and games are important for development of mind and body, which in return would lead the country on the path of progress and prosperity. He added that through games youth can earn name and fame for themselves and the country as well.
The seven-day long event was organised by J&K Table Tennis Association and J&K State Sports Council under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India.
Advisor Khan, who was chief guest on the occasion, distributed medals and trophies among the winning and runner-up teams of the tournament.
Secretary Youth Services and Sports, Sarmad Hafeez, Secretary JK State Sports Council, Dr Naseem Choudhary, DTM Northern Railways Jammu, Ketan Taneja and ace Sports Administrator, Ranjeet Kalra were present on the occasion.
Prominent among others present were TTFI officials including Arun Banerjee, Tresurer; Pankaj Sharma, Secretary Punjab; Yashpal Rana, Secretary HP; Ganeshan, President Kerala and A Selva Kumar, Secretary TN, besides officials of Jammu and Kashmir Table Tennis Association including Rajan Sharma, Sheetal Gandotra, Ravi Singh, Satish Gupta, SP Singh, Sanjeev Gupta, Natrinder Singh, Renuka Aima, Satbir Singh, IP Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Saleem Banday and Ajay Sharma, Organising Secretary.
Meanwhile, SFR Snehit, justifying his talent, finally became a worthy champion to lift the Youth Boys singles trophy when he decimated Shreyaans Goel of Delhi 4-0, while it was Diya Chitale’s day out as she claimed the rare double at the mega event.
Maharashtra’s Diya, who won her third national crown, made it look as simple as it can get when she defeated Surbhi Patwari from Bengal A 4-1 in Youth Girls final, after she had blanked out Swastika Ghosh with equal felicity in Junior Girls final earlier.
In yet another first, Delhi’s Payas Jain became the Junior Boys champion, beating Yashansh Malik, also from Delhi, 4-1 in what was another one-sided final.
Snehit, who missed a national title in Goa, played true to his potential against the left-handed Delhi boy who, despite making it to his maiden final, spilled the chance. But then credit must be given to Snehit, who hit a nice rhythm right from the word go and won several points on good, long rallies, showing his consistency. Shreyaans could neither adjust to the pace nor slow down when his rival was capable of returning everything sent at him with speed. That was the Delhi boy’s undoing and Snehit just cashed it on to romp home winners.
Diya, who was a qualifier in both sections, has the knack of carving out wins out of nowhere. The talented little girl’s never-say-die attitude is her USP and her renowned rivals knew it full well. After Swastika folded without making any worthwhile effort in Junior Girls title-clash, one expected Surbhi make the most of her second chance—she lost to Archana Kamath at Durgapur Nationals.
And Surbhi did begin well taking the first game after some struggle. However, Diya soon levelled the score and when she won the marathon third game 19-17, even Surbhi knew that he was destined to be the bride’s maid and not the bride. Diaya, cleverly engaging her Bengal rival, stepped on the gas pedal after going 2-1 up and completed the task without a fuss to get her second crown, too.
Payas, who knows Yashansh too well, had a good start and despite losing the second game gained lead soon enough to put his state mate down. Yashansh, unable to come to terms with Payas’ deep drives, especially his backhands, wilted under pressure to be satisfied with the silver he earned. It also helped Payas complete a double as he added Youth Boys doubles title to the singles crown he won.
In Youth doubles, the Delhi pair of Aadarsh Om Chetri and Payas Jain defeated their Mizoram opponents, Alberto Lrrutta and H. Jeho, but the Delhi duo had to really earn a 3-2 triumph in a tough encounter. The Youth Girls crown went to Surbhi Patwari and Poymantee Baisya of Bengal A, who accounted for the Tamil Nadu pair of Selenadeepthi Selvakumar and Kowshika Venkatesan 3-1.
In Junior Boys doubles, it was Chinmaya Somaiya and Deepit R Patil from Maharashtra who beat their state mates, Raegan Albuquerque and Mandar Hardikar in straight games for the gold and Yashaswini Ghorpade and Anargya Manjunath, who won 3-1, beat the stuffing out of the Maharashtra duo of Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh after the latter almost threatened to stage a comeback.
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