Vadodara, January 19: Ankur Bhattacharjee of West Bengal defeated Preyesh Raj Suresh of Tamil Nadu 4-2, and Suhana Saini of Haryana blanked out Taneesha Kotecha of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to lift the Under-17 Boys and Girls trophies, respectively, in the UTT National Ranking Championships at the Sama Indoor Complex here today.

Ankur's attacking play paid off against left-handed Preyesh, who struggled throughout. However, the Tamil Nadu boy managed to pull back and restore the parity. Ankur did not fall into the trap and changed his game plan, slowing down before upping the ante when Preyesh failed to hit the rhythm. Even a time-out in the sixth game to upset Ankur's flow could not make any difference to his fortunes and the Rs. 24,000 prize money.

The Haryana girl had no such difficulty in her final. Indeed, the girl from the AAI responded well with her attacking game but was guilty of not being able to convert some good points. On the other hand, Suhana grabbed the opportunity to put it across with crispy forehands to earn the 4-0 win and carry home Rs. 24,000.

The runners-up in both sections received Rs. 12,000 each.

The best match in the Boys’ quarterfinals was between Samarth Singh of Delhi and Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra. The former won, but not until his valiant efforts in the last three games. Trailing 1-3, the Delhi boy mustered the courage to inch his way up slowly and surely.

So assertive was he that he hardly gave any leeway for the opponent from Maharashtra when Kushal failed to take advantage of an excellent 2-1 and 3-1 cushion. Once Samarth equalled the score 3-3, it became somewhat easy for the Delhi lad, though he won the decider by minimal points. 

In contrast, the other matches did not raise the pitch and were one-sided. For instance, Rajkhowa Roy defeated Manikandan Sundar 4-1, as did Ankur Bhattacharjee against his Tamil Nadu rival, P.B.Abhinand. However, left-handed Preyesh Raj blanked out Punit Biswas, who won the U-15 title yesterday.

Akur Bhattacharjee faced early hiccups as Samarth Singh of Delhi led 2-1 in the first semi-final. But the Bengal boy raised his game and powered his way to take the next three games and a spot in the final. Preyesh Raj struggled against Rhkhowa Roy from Assam and was 1-2 behind. Though he dropped another game, he managed to pull it off in the fifth and sixth games.

At least two quarterfinals in the girls’ category aroused some interest as Taneesha Kotecha of AAI had to put up a good fight against Sayali Wani of Maharashtra to win 4-2. Similarly, Avani Tripathi of UP got stretched when Syndrela Das of Bengal managed to take two games off her rival.

Taneesha was down 0-2, but she upped her game a notch better than Sayali in the next four games to outsmart the girl from Maharashtra. In Avani's case, she was sitting pretty with a 3-1 lead before dropping a game. The UP girl shut out the challenge from Syndrela soon after. Suhani Saini and Darshini Mouriya each dropped a game before romping home comfortably in the other quarterfinals.

Both Taneesha and Suhana had easy semi-final outings against Darshini and Avani.

Results:

Youth Boys U-17: Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee (Ben) bt Preyesh Raj Suresh (TNTTA) 11-4, 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4.

Semi-finals: Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Samarth Singh (Del) 11-7, 3-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8; Preyesh Raj Suresh bt Rahkhowa Roy (Asm) 12-14, 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5.

Quarterfinals: Ankur Bhattacharjee bt P.B. Abhinand (TNTTA) 11-3, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8; Samarth Singh bt Kushal Chopda (Mah) 8-11, 7-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9; Rajkhow Roy bt Manikandan Sundar (TNTTA) 11-2, 12-10, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7; Preyesh Raj Suresh bt Punit Biswas (Ben) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8.

Youth Girls U-17: Final: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Taneesha Kotecha (AAI) 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6.

Semi-finals: Tanesha Kotecha bt Mouriya Dharshini (TNTTA) 11-6, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4; Suhana Saini bt Avani Tripathi (UP) 11-6, 11-7, 13-11, 11-6.

Quarterfinals: Tanesha Kotecha bt Sayali Wani (Mah) 7-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Mouriya Dharshini bt Subhankrita Datta (NCOE) 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11; Avani Tripathi bt Syndrela Das (Ben) 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6; Suhana Saini bt Risha Mirchandani (Mah) 7-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-3, 11-3.