Gujarat: It was an impressive display from young Krisha Patel while Arya Kataria too showed promise as they settled for Silver Medal at the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships 2021 in Dehradun.
Another prodigy Vivaan Dave too had a stirring performance as he reached the semi-final in the Youth Boys’ (U-11) singles and won Bronze Medal.
Krisha, who put on a performance to remember, saw her rousing display at the Youth Girls’ (U-11) singles ended with heartbreak as she suffered a 9-11, 8-11, 7-11 loss against the top-seeded Ankolika Chakraborty of Bengal ‘A’ in the final.
Krisha started her campaign with an 11-3, 11-5, 11-3 win over Rashi Rao of Karnataka before shocking second seed Ahona Ray of Bengal ‘A’ 11-8, 13-11, 10-12, 11-8 in the second round.
In the quarters, Krisha edged out Ranjini Saha of Bengal ‘A’ 11-4, 11-5, 12-10 before beating Delhi’s Aradhya Dhingra 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 11-2 in the semis.
Vivaan, one of the most talked-about players in the state, put up a good fight against top seed and eventual winner Akash Rajavelu in the semis. However, young Vivaan could not sustain the momentum as he suffered 11-8, 11-9, 4-11, 9-11, 9-11 loss against his rival from Tamil Nadu.
Vivaan started his campaign with an 11-4, 12-10, 11-5 win over Andhra Pradesh’s Ashwin Pechetti before beating TTTA’s Vaibhav Prasanna 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 in the next round. Continuing his dominant run, Vivaan then blanked Rajasthan’s Aarav Acharya 11-7, 11-6, 12-10.
Meanwhile, Arya Kataria found his namesake from Delhi, Arya Sarthak, too hot to handle as the former suffered a 3-11, 5-11, 6-11, 7-11 in the Youth Boys’ (U-13) final that lasted 25 minutes.
Arya Kataria started his campaign with an 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 win over Samriddha Bhattacharya of Bengal ‘A’ in the opening round, before registering an 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 win over Karnataka’s Arya Jain. In the pre-quarters, Arya Kataria survived a see-saw battle to beat Dhairya Rawat of PSPB A 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-5 before registering a coming from behind 12-14, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10 win over Rupam Sardar of Bengal ‘A’.
In the semis, Arya Kataria beat Bhaskar Singh Sugra of Delhi 11-2, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8.
“It was an impressive display from the players from the state. I am very happy to see the talent in the state that is capable of giving the traditional powerhouses a run for their money,” GSTTA president Mr Vipul Mittra said. “GSTTA’s decision to hold the pre-national camp also bore results as the players got a chance to remove the chinks in their armour and also the coaches told them about how to handle the mental aspect of the game during the National Championships. The match simulations at the camp had helped the players adapt to the different situations better,” Mr Mitta, IAS, said.
