Date:10/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/10/stories/2008081055971500.htm

Sport - Sports : General

Adheena Latheef bags titles

KOCHI: Five years ago, Adheena Latheef’s world came crashing down when her dad, head constable P.M. Latheef, died of cancer. Life suddenly became a big struggle.

But Adheena, a talented table tennis player from Moolamattom’s Hydel Recreation Club, fought hard, against all odds. Two years ago, she became Kerala’s youngest women’s State champion. She was just 14 then.

Now, on Saturday, Adheena won two titles in the RSC State-ranking tournament at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here. The 16-year-old stopped Alappuzha YMCA Table Tennis Academy’s Shikha Jacob in the junior girls’ final and later Maria Rony in the youth final.

The results (open events, singles): Junior boys final: Vishnu Narayan (AYTTA, Alappuzha) bt S. Sundar (AYTTA) 12-10, 11-6, 12-14, 11-8, 11-8. Semifinals: Sundar bt Rahul Binu Mathew 8-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-6, 11-5; Vishnu bt V.P.Arjun (Tvm) 11-3, 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5.

Sub-junior boys’ final: Rahul Binu Mathew (AYTTA) bt Unnikrishnan 11-5, 11-8, 11-5. Semifinals: Rahul bt Renjith Benny (Tvm) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4; Unnikrishnan bt Bharath Krishnan (Tvm) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9.

Youth girls’ final: Adheena K. Lathif (HRC) bt Maria Rony (AYTTA) 11-9, 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 14-12. Semifinals: Adheena bt Shikha Jacob (AYTTA) 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-0, 11-8; Maria bt Anjali Vasudevan 8-11, 11-2, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5.

Junior girls’ final: Adheena K. Lathif (HRC) bt Sikha Jacob (AYTTA) 9-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 10-12, 12-10. Semifinals: Adheena bt Anjali S. Nair 5-11, 11-2, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3; Sikha bt Serha Jacob (AYTTA) 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.

Sub-junior girls’ final: Gayathri Girish (RSC, Kochi) bt Renu Anna Johnson (Klm) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8. Semifinals: Gayathri bt Aneesha Ganesh (HRC) 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3; Renu bt S.Surumi (Tvm) 11-8, 11-7, 14-12.

Inter-school team championship: Boys’ under-17 final: Don Bosco HSS, Irinjalakuda bt Navy Children’s School, Kochi. Under-14 final: High Range School, Munnar bt Nirmala HS, Wynad.

Girls’ under-19 final: St Mary’s, Alappuzha bt Karthika Thirunal, Thiruvananthapuram. Under-17 final: Kendriya Vidyalaya-I, Kochi bt Sacred Heart EMHSS, Moolamattom. Under-14: Govt UP School, Wynad bt Don Bosco HSS, Irinjalakuda. — Principal Correspondent