Another double for Mallika

MUMBAI, July 26: Top seed Mallika Parekh asserted her supremacy once again in the State Ranking Table Tennis tournament at the Juhu Vile ...

MUMBAI, July 26: Top seed Mallika Parekh asserted her supremacy once again in the State Ranking Table Tennis tournament at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana today. After a superlative performance that brought a double crown in the recently-concluded State Ranking tournament at Matunga Gymkhana, Mallika repeated her achievement. Winning both women8217;s and girls singles titles, the 14-year-old once again justified her top billing.

Rohit Choudhary produced the final day8217;s biggest upset by beating second seed, Nachiket Chawathe, to lift the men8217;s singles crown. This is the second title for Choudhary in less than a week8217;s time. He won the Matunga Gymkhana State Ranking tournament on Thursday.

In the girls singles, Mallika breezed past second seed Shalmali Inamdar 21-16, 21-15, 21-18. Shalmali did show instances of her brilliance but failed to maintain it as Mallika made short work of her challenge.

Two games down, Shalmali tried some heroics. In both the earlier games, Mallika had the advantage of any early lead.But in the third, Shalmali seemed to find her feet as she caught up with her better known opponent and both remained practically neck and neck. But Mallika managed to surge ahead with some crisp forehands.

Shalmali managed to go 13-10 up mid-way through the game after some thrilling rallies. But Mallika caught up. At 17-all an error by Shalmali, as she played into the net, gave Mallika some leeway which she never let go.Later in the day, Mallika eased past Radhika Ghatnekar in the women8217;s final. The third-seeded Radhika, like Shalmali in the girls final, failed to match her vaunted opponent and went down 13-21, 7-21, 11-21.

The boys8217; singles final between top seed Aditya Mahagaonkar and Swapnil Namjoshi turned out to be a keenly-fought affair. Mahagaonkar, the favourite, overcame a spirited challenge by his better built opponent, prevailing 21-18, 21-15, 21-15.

The the men8217;s final here, played late in the evening, Choudhary, the fifth seed, shocked Chawathe in a tight five-game match. He won 21-18,15-21, 21-18, 11-21, 21-10.

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It was a fitting finale to the tournament as both the players tried to overpower each other. Chawathe fought bravely, recovering from a one-game deficit to win the fourth despite breaking his racquet on hitting the table. But Choudhary held nerves in the decider and won the final game with ease.Earlier in the men8217;s team championships, YMCA beat Khar Gymkhana 3-0.

RESULTS

Men8217;s singles final: Rohit Choudhary bt Nachiket Chawathe 21-18, 15-21, 21-18, 11-21, 21-10. Semi-finals: Chawathe bt Mahendra Chiplunkar 17-21, 21-11, 21-13, 21-14; Choudhary bt Nishant Kulkarni 21-12, 21-17, 21-15.

Men8217;s team championships Final: YMCA bt Khar Gymkhana 3-0 Eric Fernandes bt Kunal Solanki 21-14, 21-19; Aditya Mahagaonkar bt Subin Panthaky 13-21, 21-16, 21-11; Ankur Mahajan bt Tarun Gupta 14-21, 21-19, 21-13.

Boys singles final: Aditya Mahagaonkar bt Swapnil Namjoshi 18-21, 21-16, 21-18, 19-21, 21-16. Semi-finals: Mahagaonkar bt Mitesh Puranik 21-18,18-21, 21-14, 21-12; Namjoshi bt Eric Fernandes 21-15, 22-20, 21-15.Women8217;s singles final: Mallika Parekh bt Radhika Ghatnekar 21-13, 21-7, 21-11. Semi-finals: Mallika bt Leena Medhekar 21-5, 21-16, 21-11; Radhika bt Mamata Prabhu 21-19, 11-21, 21-17, 15-21, 21-14.

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Girls singles final: Mallika Parekh bt Shalmali Inamdar 21-15, 21-15, 21-18. Semi-finals: Shalmali bt Mamata Prabhu 22-20, 14-21, 12-21, 21-13, 25-23; Mallika bt Amruta Joshi 21-9, 21-17, 21-10.