Gandhidham: Vivaan Dave capped a memorable season with a fine double win and added the U15 boys’ singles title to the team title he had secured for Gujarat at the start of the UTT 87th Inter-State Sub-Junior and Cadet National Table Tennis Championships at the MP Mittra Indoor Stadium in the Haresh Sangtani Sports Complex on Thursday.
In a thrilling finale, Vivaan made a strong comeback and defeated Haryana’s Vatsal Duklan 3-2. After falling two games behind, the Gujarat paddler showed remarkable composure under pressure, prevailing in a thrilling third game before carrying the momentum in two hard-fought deciders that also came to deuces.
The semi-final offered contrasting narratives. Vivaan was ice cold against Akash Rajavelu of Tamil Nadu and secured a 3-0 win in a row with controlled aggression and consistency. In the other semi-final, Vatsal battled Nilay Pattekar of Maharashtra in a five-game thriller and held his nerve in the decider to win 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.
Earlier in the quarterfinals, West Bengal’s Akash had beaten Aditya Das 3-1 while Vivaan had endured a tough five-match test against JN Sanjey Arwindh. Nilay and Vatsal also made it to the semi-finals after hard-fought matches.
In doubles, K. Akshay Bhushan and Akash Rajavelu of Tamil Nadu clinched the title after a hard-fought 12-10, 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5 win over Aditya Das and Rishaan Chattopadhyay of West Bengal.
Ariv Dutta of West Bengal clinched the U-13 boys’ singles title with a back-to-back win (3-0) over M. Ashvajith of Tamil Nadu. Except for the third game in the final where Ashvajith showed some semblance of resistance, the Tamil Nadu paddler was largely outplayed, especially after losing the first two games tamely.
In contrast, Ashvajith was in complete control in the semi-final, defeating Punjab’s Trijal Vohra in three games with aggressive, one-sided play. The other semi-final proved far more dramatic as Ariv saw off Karnataka’s M Siddhanth in a hard-fought five-game contest, showing remarkable resilience after being pushed to the limit. Ariv won alternate games and had to fight hard to win two deuce games, ultimately giving him a lead before finishing the match.
Gem Mahalanabish and Ariv Dutta of West Bengal secured the doubles crown with a back-to-back win (3-0) over Trijal Vohra and Satvik Sharma of Punjab. However, the West Bengal pair remained in control throughout, although there was a closer battle in the third game before they saw the game out.
West Bengal’s Rajdeep Biswas dominated the final, defeating Maharashtra’s Rajvardhan Tiwari 12-10, 11-4, 11-6. In the opening game, Rajdeep performed well but came back strongly to defeat the Maharashtra paddler, eventually turning the game into a one-sided affair.
In the semi-final, Rajdeep delivered a comfortable back-to-back win over Arjun Sen and Rajvardhan matched that intensity with an equally convincing 3-0 win over Debanshu Chakraborty to set up the final.
Results:
U-15 Youth Boys Singles: Final: Vivaan Dave (Guj) vs Vatsal Duklan (Har) 6-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 14-12.
Semi-final: Vivaan vs Akash Rajavelu (TN) 11-7, 11-8, 12-10; Vatsal bt Nilay Pattekar (Mah) 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.
Quarterfinals: Akash vs Aditya Das (WB) 3-1; Vivaan vs JN Sanjay Arwindh (TN) 3-2; Nilay vs Aarav Acharya (Raj) 3-2; Vatsal vs. Himon Mondal (WB) 3-1.
Doubles: Final: K. Akshay Bhushan/Akash Rajavelu (TN) vs Aaditya Das/Rishaan Chattopadhyay (WB) 12-10, 6-11, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5.
U-13 Boys Singles: Final: Ariv Dutta (WB) vs M. Ashvjith (TN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-9.
Semi-final: Aashvajith bt Trijal Vohra (Pun) 11-9, 11-4, 11-6; Ariv bt M. Siddhanth (Kar) 7-11, 15-13, 8-11, 13-11, 11-6.
Quarterfinals: Trijal vs Raghav Mahajan (Mah) 3-2; Ashwajith vs Gem Mahalanabish (WB) 3-0; Ariv vs Dev Bhatt (Guj) 3-2; Siddhanth vs Rajdeep Biswas (WB) 3-2.
Doubles: Final: Gem Mahalanabish/Ariv Dutta (WB) vs Trijal Vohra/Satvik Sharma (Pun) 11-8, 11-5, 15-13.
U-11 Youth Boys Singles: Final: Rajdeep Biswas (WB) vs Rajvardhan Tiwari (Mah) 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.
Semi-final: Rajdeep vs Arjun Sen (WB) 3:0; Rajvardhan vs Debanshu Chakraborty (WB) 3:0.
Quarterfinals: Rajdeep vs Vaibhav Jeenepalli (AP) 3-0; Arjun vs Yuvaan Walia Singh (Mah_) 3:1; Rajvardhan vs. Hridan Biswas (WB) 3:0; Debanshu vs Satvik Sharma (Pun) 3:1.
