Date:16/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/16/stories/2008111657021600.htm

Sport - Table Tennis

Sathiyan is champion

Sports Reporter

Tirupur: Commonwealth Games Youth gold medallist G. Sathiyan, from Chennai, coasted to a comfortable 11-4, 11-3, 15-13, 11-6 win over citymate Ajay Bharadwaj and clinched the junior boys’ title in the State table tennis championship, organised by the Tirupur Table Tennis Club, at the Samiti Hall here on Saturday.

The junior boys’ final had to be rescheduled a day in advance, on request, as Sathiyan had to take the morning flight to Iran to compete in the Iran international cultural sports tournament next week.

The twice Iranian Open winner (2005 & 2006) knew, to win, he had to be really sharp and grab an early advantage. He did that smartly driving to Bharadwaj’s backhand continuously.

Top seeds tumble

The major upsets of the day came in the junior section with the top seeds in both the categories failing to make the semifinal grade.

R. Venkatraman of Lords Table Tennis Academy (Chennai) went down fighting 13-11, 9-11, 9-11, 8-11, 11-2, 13-11 to unseeded V.K. Vivek Prasad of Santhome (Chennai), while K.K. Narmadha, sponsored by Indian Bank, lost 11-5, 3-11, 4-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-3, 9-11 to T. Reeth Rishya of SDAT-AKG (Chennai).

However, both Venkatraman and Narmadha need not worry much as they are already in the State team for the Nationals.

The results (quarterfinals): Boys: Sub-juniors: D. Sameera Kumar (NLC) bt K.R. Rohit (YMCA-K) 11-9, 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6; Sachin Viswanath (Ransa) bt Shashank S. Yogesh (Ransa) 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8; M. Kalaivannan (SDAT-AKG) bt S. Siddarth (LTTA) 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8; R. Anandraj (SDAT-AKG) bt M. Jagadeesh (SDAT-AKG) 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4.

Juniors: Final: G. Sathiyan (SDAT-MDX) bt Ajay Bharadwaj (MVM) 11-4, 11-3, 15-13, 11-6.

Semifinals: Sathiyan bt R. Anandraj 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 10-12, 11-8; Ajay (MVM) bt V.K. Vivek Prasad (Santhome) 11-2, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3.

Quarterfinals: Ajay bt V. Ramanujam (CTTF) 11-5, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4; Sathiyan bt M. Kalaivanan 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-9. Vivek bt Venkatraman (LTTA) 11-13, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 2-11, 11-13.

Girls: (Quarterfinals) Cadets: Abhinaya Ramesh (Erd) bt V.S. Kokila (RTTA) 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-3; V. Deepika (Ransa) bt G. Aishwarya Ravi (PSBB) 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5; Sr. Krithika Rajan (GGI) bt Mahima Jain (KTTC) 11-3, 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 12-10; Harshavardhini (PNVM) bt P. Pavithra (AKG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4.

Sub-juniors: S. Narasimha Priya (PSBB) bt J.P. Roshini (SDAT-AKG) 11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6; Priyanka Rajendran (RTTA) bt P. Divya (MVM) 11-2, 15-13, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7; Amrutha Pushpak (SDAT-AKG) bt S. Shanmathi (MVM) 11-13, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 17-15, 13-11; Reeth Rishya bt R.K.E. Yukthi Roshini (Ransa) 11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

Juniors: T. Reeth Rishya bt K.K. Narmadha (IB) 5-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8, 11-13, 3-11, 11-9; Sumana R. Krishnan (Ransa) bt S. Narasimha Priya 11-9, 13-15, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9; S. Vidya (SDAT-AKG) bt Divya Rajaram 11-1, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; V. Sneha (Ransa) bt S. Krithika (Ransa) 11-9, 11-2, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.