Table tennis: Tamil Nadu win cadets' double crown

Tamil Nadu won a double crown in the cadets category while Gujarat boys and West Bengal girls lifted the Sub-Junior team trophies at the 77th cadet and sub-junior national table tennis championships here on Saturday.

Gujarat boys claimed their first ever sub-junior title beating Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) A 3-1 in the final at the Netaji indoor stadium.

Backed by a partisan home crowd, West Bengal girls thrashed Maharashtra A 3-0 to regain the crown after three years.

In the cadets section, Tamil Nadu girls had to endure a 24-game final to beat Karnataka 3-2, while their boys played only six games fewer to overcome a resilient Delhi by the same margin.

Gujarat boys were not the least overawed by the presence of higher ranked players like H. Jeho and Anukram Jain in the PSPB A ranks.

They began with an upset as Jeho went down to Manush Shah 1-3 despite winning the first game. The left-handed Manush drove and served better with good display of variations seizing the moments that were presented by his rival.

Jain, who has had two titles this season, had a nervous start against Soham Pandya, Gujarat's second singles player. Soham seemingly played beyond his capability, executing excellent shots to the bewilderment of his PSPBA opponent. Yet, Anukram levelled after being stretched the full distance.

But the Gujarat duo of Manush and Soham outsmarted PSPB A's Anukram and Alberto Lrrutta to go 2-1 up. Anukram, who played the reverse singles, went in for the fourth rubber of the final with drooping shoulders and completely exhausted. The result was palpable when Manush, who by then had touched his peak with a nice rhythm, took the first two games as he completed the onslaught with a game loss to Anukram.

In the sub-junior girls' final, Bengal's Shrubabati Moitra won 3-1 in the opening rubber against Maharashtra's Manushree Patil while Prapti Sen came from behind after being 0-2 down to win 3-2 and put the hosts 2-0 up. The Bengal girls claimed the doubles to blank out Maharashtra.

Results:

Sub-Junior Boys: Final: Gujarat bt PSPB A 3-1 (Manush Shah bt H. Jeho 5-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4, Soham Pandya lost to Anukram Jain 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 10-12, 12-14, Manush/Soham bt Alberto Lrruata/Anukram 11-8, 11-4, 11-9, Manush Shah bt Anukram Jain 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5).

Sub-Junior Girls: Final: West Bengal bt Maharashtra A 3-0 (Shrubabati Moitra bt Manushree Patil 11-7, 11-1, 5-11, 11-4, Prapti Sen bt Swastika Ghosh 9-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-6, Shrubabati/Prapti bt Manushree/Swstika 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-2).

Cadet Boys: Final: Tamil Nadu bt Delhi 3-2 (Varun Ganesh lost to Payas Jain 11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 5-11, Vishwa Deenadayalan bt Tejas Narang 11-6, 11-5, 11-8, Vishwa/Varun 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, Vishwa Deenadayalan lost to Payas Jain 11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 9-11, Varun Ganesh bt Tejas Narang 11-6, 11-8, 11-8).

Cadet Girls: Final: Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-2 (Kavyasree Baskar bt Yashaswini Ghorpade 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, Shreya Shiva Kumar lost to Anargaya Manjunath 2-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-3, 3-11, Kavyasree/Shreya lost to Yashaswini/Anargaya 10-12, 12-10, 5-11, 7-11, Kavyasree Baskar bt Anargaya Manjunath 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, Shreya Shiva Kumar bt Yashaswini Ghorpade 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9).