Sport - Table Tennis

Rahul beats Rohit

ALAPPUZHA: For a change, Rohit Binu Mathew was not cheering his elder brother Rahul. In fact, the 11-year-old put on a serious face, sparred with more focus and got ready for a hard battle. Only, this time it was against his brother.

Rahul won the battle of brothers and won the sub-junior title in the State table tennis championship, at the Alappuzha YMCA on Saturday evening.

But he was a bit surprised by the fight put up by his little brother. “I’ve never lost to Rohit but he lifted his game nicely today,” said Rahul, an eighth standard student of the St. Mary’s School here who was winning his maiden State title.

Rahul dominated the final but Rohit, who relies on an attacking game, was at his best in the second game. And despite losing to his brother, Rohit finished the day with a gold too. He won the cadet boys title with a comfortable victory over his Alappuzha YMCA Academy-mate Anas Irshad.

Maria Rony, who looks set to sweep all the girls titles here, won two today, in the sub-junior and cadet sections. She beat her friend and club-mate Seraha Jacob in both finals and easily too.

The results (singles): Sub-junior boys final: Rahul Binu Mathew (Alp) bt Rohit Binu Mathew (Alp) 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7. Cadet boys final: Rohit Binu Mathew (Alp) bt Anas Irshad (Alp) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5. Semifinals: Rohit bt H. Nitin (Pkd) 12-10, 11-9, 11-2; Anas Irshad bt Mishal Dilawar (Ekm) 8-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9.

Cadet girls final: Maria Rony (Alp) bt Seraha Jacob (Alp) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8. Semifinals: Maria Rony bt Gia Anna George (Alp) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6; Seraha Jacob bt Aneesha Ganesh (Idk) 11-5, 11-6, 11-2. Doubles finals: Men: M. R. Rajeev/L. Arun Kumar (Alp) bt Sarath V. Joy/Rahul Binu Mathew (Alp) 11-5, 11-5, 19-17.

Youth boys: S. Sundar/Vishnu Narayan (Alp) bt S. Arjun/V. P. Arjun (Tvm) 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9. Junior boys: Sarath V. Joy/Rahul Binu Mathew (Alp) bt Vishnu Narayan/S. Sundar (Alp) 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9.

Women: Anju K. Thomas/Aparna D. Nair (Tvm) bt Lakshmi Prabha/Anjali Vasudevan (Kzd) 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4. Youth girls: Anju K. Thomas/Anjali S. Nair (Tvm) bt Adheena K. Lathif/M. I. Sareena (Idk) 9-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-9.

Junior girls: Sikha Jacob/Gia Anna George (Alp) bt M. I. Sareena / Adheena K. Lathif (Idk) 11-9, 11-2, 7-11, 12-10.

Mixed: M. R. Rajeev/Sikha Jacob (Alp) bt Vishnu Narayan/Maria Rony (Alp) 11-8, 11-6, 13-11. — Principal Correspondent

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