Aadarsh breaks the final jinx, hat-trick for Suhana Saini

Haryana's Suhana Saini claimed a hat-trick of titles, with a convincing straight games--13-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4--victory over Anargya Manjunath of Karnataka in the sub-junior girls’ final.

Aadarsh Om Chetri of Delhi beat Tamil Nadu's D. Vishwa 13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 11-4 to bag his first title of the season in the category.

On three previous occasions, Aadarsh Om Chetri of Delhi had lost in the finals; twice to Payas Jain and once to D. Vishwa. When he entered the hall for the sub-junior boys' final of the 11Sports-West Zone National-ranking table tennis tournament at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Thursday, cheers from his well-wishers echoed in his ears. Subsequently, he pleased everyone present at the venue with an attacking display. The 13-year-old overcame a stiff challenge from D. Vishwa of Tamil Nadu, before winning in seven games, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 11-4 to bag his first title of the season in the category.

READ: Youth Olympics: Archana falters after stunning run "Earlier, I was not able to focus properly. This time, I was focused," said Aadarsh, who is trained by Anshul Garg in Delhi. Haryana's Suhana Saini claimed a hat-trick of titles, with a convincing straight games--13-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4--victory over Anargya Manjunath of Karnataka in the sub-junior girls’ final. "I am so happy to win three consecutive titles. Before the final, I prepared myself well. My tactic was to receive her service well with a forehand top-spin and it worked," said Suhana, trained by R. Rajesh, a former International from Chennai. At the prize distribution ceremony, the Sudesh Shelar Memorial Foundation distributed a scholarship amount of Rs. 50,000 each to 10 promising paddlers.

The results: Sub-junior boys: (Final): Aadarsh Om Chetri (Del) bt D. Vishwa (TN) 13-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 11-4; (Semifinals): D. Vishwa bt Soumyadeep Sarkar (NB) 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7; Aadarsh bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 13-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7. Cadet boys: (Final): Emon Adhikary (WB) bt Gaurav Pancham (Mah) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4; (Semifinals): Gaurav bt Adlakhiya Jatin Dev (Telg) 10-12, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5; Emon bt M. Balamurugan (TN) 11-1, 11-9, 11-9. Sub-junior girls: (Final): Suhana Saini (Har) bt Anargaya Manjunath (Kar) 13-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4; (Semifinals): Anargaya bt Sneha Bhowmick (WB) 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9; Suhana bt Yashaswini Ghorpade (Kar) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6. Cadet girls: (Final): Sayani Panda (WB) bt Nandini Saha (WB) 11-6, 14-12, 11-5, 11-6; (Semifinals): Sayani bt Sana D’Souza (Mah) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9; Nandini bt Niharika Ananth Kumar (Kar) 8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7.