Surat, January 24: Himon Mondal from West Bengal, who toppled top-seed Balmiki Veer, proved a deserving winner of the Youth Boys Under-11 title, while Tanishka Kalbhairav from Karnataka avenged her loss in Vadodara to wear the Youth Girls Under-11 crown in the UTT National Ranking Championships for Season 2022 at the DD Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here today. 

Simon's consistency is the byproduct of his confidence after winning against Balmiki in the pre-quarterfinals. It resonated throughout, and the 3-0 triumph in the final against Param Bhiwandikar of Maharashtra was not a surprise at all.

Tanishka, after she got pushed out in the final last week by Saturya, had to avenge her loss. And thanks to the Bengal girl's inconsistent form here, the Karnataka girl seized the moment to blank her out. Except for the first game, which she won after the deuce, the Karnataka girl was in complete control and emerged a comfortable winner.

The quarterfinals went along the expected lines, particularly after Himon Kumar Monday of Bengal upset Vadodara title-holder Balmiki top-seed Veer 3-1 in the pre-quarterfinal this morning. Himon carried the form into the quarters and thrashed Souswarya Banerjee 3-0.

Tamil Nadu's J.N. Sanjey Arwindh, Param Bhiwandkar of Maharashtra, and Rishaan Chattopadhayay followed suit with a similar verdict against state-mate Rudraksha Das, who completed the quarterfinal line-ups.

Earlier, Balmiki failed to take advantage of a perfect beginning as he let Himon gain a foothold in the second game. At 1-1 all, it was anybody's match, and Himon went from strength to strength to go 2-1 up and then finish it off in style in the fourth game.

Himon and Param entered the final with an identical 3-1 triumph over Sanjey Arwindh and Rishaan Chattopadhyay, respectively. 

One of the Youth Girls' quarterfinals, between Saturya Banerjee of West Bengal and Aradhya Dhingra of PSPBA, went the distance with the Vadodara title-holder struggling to survive. Saturya, down 1-2, managed to pull back and level the scores, but in the decider, too, she seemed to slip after the deuce. Her perseverance, in the end, paid off when she won 13-11 to escape from the jaws of defeat. Other quarterfinals did not elicit many thrills, and the winners sailed through.

In contrast, three Girls' quarterfinals had everyone interested as they went down to the wire. Akansha Singhal of Delhi overcame resistance from B. Varnica of Tamil Nadu, and Saranya Kar of West Bengal won the decider in time before Saturya Banerjee huffed and puffed her way into the quarters against Sri Shaanvi of Andhra Pradesh. 

Saturya's struggle continued into the semi-final, and again she pulled it off against Moupia Das, also from Bengal. Saturya was down 0-2, as she had to win the last three games to survive, which she did when Moupia failed to capitalise in the fourth game. Tanishka Kalbhairav beat Shariqa Shahid 3-0 to enter her second final in a week.  

Results:

Youth Boys U-11: Final: Himon Mondal (Ben) bt Param Bhiwandkar (Mah) 19-17, 11-8, 11-5.

Semi-finals: Himon Mondal bt J.N. Sanjey Arwindh (TNTTA) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Param Bhiwandkar bt Rishaan Chattopadhayay (Ben) 17-19, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.

Quarterfinals: Himon Mondal bt Souswarya Banerjee (Ben) 11-9, 12-10, 12-10; JN Sanjey Arwindh bt Rrithwik Senthilkumar (TNTTA) 5-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-7; Param Bhinwandkar bt Areen Roy (Ben) 11-8, 11-8, 11-3; Rishaan Chattopadhayay bt Rudraksha Das (Ben) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3.

Youth Girls U-11: Final: Tanisha Kalbhairav (Kar) bt Saturya Banerjee (Ben) 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.

Semi-finals: Tanishka Kalbhairav bt Shariqa Shahid (Ben) 11-9, 11-7, 11-3; Saturya Banerjee bt Moupia Das (Ben) 3-11, 6-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-4.

Quarterfinals: Tanishka Kalbhairav bt Saranya Kar (Ben) 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4; Shariqa Shahid bt Kamarapu Saanvi (Telg) 4-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-9; Moupia Das bt Akansha Singhal (Del) 11-9, 11-5, 11-2; Saturya Banerjee bt Aradhya Dhingra (PSPBA) 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 13-11.