Chennai, February 16: Payas Jain of Delhi defeated Divyansh Srivastava of Uttar Pradesh 4-1 to retain the Youth Boys Under-19 singles title in the UTT 84th Inter-State Youth and Junior National Championships at the Nehru Indoor Stadium here today.

Payas achieved the result with minimum fuss and took 32 minutes precisely to dispose of his UP rival. Thus, Payas continued to dominate his trophy-winning spree, four of which came his way with one runner-up position in the last five appearances. Today's effort also earned him Rs. 72,000 as the winner's purse. Divyansh had to settle for the silver and half of what Payas got.

Having played a tough semi-final against local lad Preyesh, the UP boys failed to regroup despite a three-hour break before the final. In the first game, he managed to stretch Payas a bit, the latter winning on the second game point. After that, the Delhi boy's pace unsettled him so much that he lost the next two games without much fight. But more than that, his drooping shoulders also indicated that he was resigned to fate.

Nevertheless, he went 7-2 up in the fourth. However, Payas came too close for his comfort, and at 8-10, Divyansh lost steam and heart. Luckily, he claimed the crucial last point to take the game to the champion. Payas ended his ordeal after leading 9-1 to win his fourth U-19 singles crown.

The first semi-final did not produce the excitement one expected, especially from a jaded Ankur Bhattacharjee. Payas, the world No. 16 in the category, was in the zone as he made his rival earn the points. Ankur tried all the tricks from his bag, but forehand drives and backhand flicks from Payas brooked no challenge, fetching him the most points. Even assuming fatigue was getting the better of Ankur, Payas reigned supreme on the day.

In contrast, the second semi-final between Divyansh Srivastava and S. Preyesh Raj drew wider attention. The UP boy led 3-1, but a resurgent Preyesh played brilliantly to pull level by the sixth game. The left-right battle went down to the wire, and Divyansh emerged the winner after the failure of Preyesh to take advantage of Divyansh, who was feeling the pressure.

In the Under-19 Boys singles quarterfinals, Ankur and Payas Jain of Delhi hardly broke a sweat as they sailed into the semis, beating their rivals Sarth Mishra of Up and Muthu Rajasekaran of Tamil Nadu 4-0 and 4-1, respectively.

However, in the other quarters, the left-handed Preyesh Raj struggled before overcoming the challenge from Soumyadeep Sarkar of West Bengal to win 4-2. After saving five-game points and converting his sixth to win the third game 18-16, Preyesh went 3-1 ahead. But the West Bengal paddler rallied to win the next to inch closer. However, the Tamil Nadu paddler didn't waste time and pulled it off in the sixth to storm into the semis.

In the last quarterfinal, Divyansh controlled the match and led 2-0 before Priyanuj could take some liberty to pull one down. But the UP lad consolidated his position in the next, going 3-1 up. The Assam boy won the next to give some worry to his rival after the deuce. That was all he could do as Divyansh wrapped up the sixth game on his second match point. 

Gold and silver

The West Bengal pair of Ankur Bhattacharjee and Punit Biswas disposed of Muthu Rajasekaran and S. Preyesh Raj of Tamil Nadu with a 3-0 verdict to win the gold medal in Youth Boys Under-17 doubles. Except for the first game, in which the Bengal pair got stretched, they were in complete control to put it across the TN duo.

However, Ankur and his partner Soumyadeep Sarkar had to settle for the silver medal in the Under-19 doubles, going down in straight games to the Tamil Nadu pair of Varun Ganesh and Preyesh Raj. It was good revenge for the latter, who failed in the other doubles event. 

G. Sathiyan, the highest-ranked Indian in the world at No. 41, and former national champion M.S. Mythili gave away the prizes to the winners.

Results:

Youth Boys U-19 Singles: Final: Payas Jain (Del) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 13-11, 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4.

Semi-finals: Payas Jain bt Ankur Bhattacharjee (WB) 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6; Divyansh Srivastava bt S. Preyesh Raj (TN) 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 15-13, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8.

Quarterfinals: Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Sarth Mishra (UP) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8; Payas Jain bt Muthu Rajasekaran (TN) 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 13-11; S. Preyesh Raj bt Soumyadeep Sarkar (WB) 11-3, 7-11, 18-16, 11-7, 9-11, 11-2; Divyansh Srivastava bt Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Asm) 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 10-12, 13-11.

Youth Boys U-19 Doubles: Final: Varun Ganesh/Preyesh Raj (TN) bt Ankur Bhattacharjee/Soumyadeep Sarkar (WB) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.

Youth Boys U-17 Doubles: Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee/Punit Biswas (WB) bt Muthu Rajasekaran/Preyesh Raj (TN) 12-10, 11-9, 11-5.