Surat, January 28: Top-seed G. Sathiyan defeated Harmeet Desai 4-1 to win the men's singles gold in the UTT National Ranking Championships at the DD Upadhyay Indoor Stadium here today. 

In the women's singles final, Reeth Rishya of PSPB struggled before outsmarting Sutirtha Mukherjee of RSPB 4-2 to win the season's first crown.

Sathiyan was in complete control despite dropping a game and easily accounted for his PSPB colleague. But, in the case of Reeth, who led 2-0, dropped two consecutive games before picking herself up to turn the tables on Sutirtha.

In the Youth Boys final, Ankur Bhattacharjee of West Bengal blanked out Divyansh Srivastava of UP 4-0 for his second title of the tournament here. But for the first game, which Ankur won on extended points, he didn't need to push the envelope any further in the next three games as the UP boy made far too many mistakes and failed the keep the ball on the table. 

In the all-Maharashtra Youth Girls U-19 final, Jennifer Varghese downed Sayali Wani 4-1 to win her first title of the season, and that too in a higher category. It was creditable of the lanky Jennifer to make amends for the earlier losses in her U-15 category. After losing the first game, she kept a tight leash on Sayali and romped home comfortably. Sutirtha, who disposed of top-seed Sreeja Akula, continued her form to thrash Poymantee Baisya 4-0. But Reeth Rishya faced stiff resistance from Diya Chitale before overcoming her in the second semi-final.

Diya led 2-1 after losing the first game. However, she allowed Reeth to stage her recovery and went 3-2 up, the fourth being the game changer. But Diya won the next, taking the issue to the decider. Maintaining a slender lead, Reeth warded off the threat and stopped Diya's surge in the last game.

On the other hand, both the men's semi-finals hit the crescendo, keeping everybody interested, especially the spectators. Top-seed Sathiyan was comfortably leading 3-0 and found a sudden challenge emanating from Manush Shah from Gujarat. The left-hander returned and rallied beautifully to win a few crucial points during the phase to level the score 3-3. But Sathiyan went all-out in the decisive seventh game and won, much to his relief.

Harmeet Desai beat Jeet Chandra 4-3 in another cliffhanger. Leading 3-1, Harmeet should have wrapped it up. But let Jeet sneak in as he took the next two to restore parity. Nevertheless, Harmeet brought all his experience to the fore and shut him up.

Payas-Yashaswini pair wins gold

Payas Jain of Delhi and Yashaswini Ghorphade of Karnataka joined hands to hand out a 3-2 defeat to the AAI-Maharashtra pair of SFR Snehit and Diya Chitale in the final of the mixed doubles.

The AAI-Maharashtra duo had the upper hand with a 2-1 lead, but the Delhi-Karnataka pair combined well in the last two games to earn the trophies. Too many unforced errors in the fourth game by their opponents helped Payas and Yashaswini, who cashed in on the chances. With the score level, their confidence got a boost in the decider.

Suhana, Ankur win

In the Youth Girls U-17 final, Suhana Saini from Haryana easily beat Sayanika Maji of Delhi 4-0. In the second and fourth games, Suhana got stretched, but the Haryana girl maintained the upper hand as Sayanika could not take advantage after the deuce as Suhana finished strong.

Ankur Bhattacharjee, like Suhana, continued to hold sway in the category and defeated H. Lalruatsanga of Delhi 4-1. The Bengal boy led 3-0 before dropping a game. However, Ankur completed the job in the next to lift the trophy.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 11-8, 18-16, 5-11, 11-4, 11-5.

Semi-finals: G. Sathiyan bt Manush Shah (Guj) 12-10, 11-5, 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6; Harmeet Desai bt Jeet Chandra (Ben) 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, 2-11, 6-11, 11-5.

Quarterfinals: G. Sathiyan bt Anirban Ghosh (RSPB) 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7; Manush Shah bt SFR Snehit (AAI) 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7; Harmeet Desai bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9; Jeet Chandra bt Akash Pal (RSPB) 11-7, 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8.

Women’s Singles: Final: Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Sutirthaa Mukherjee (RSPB) 11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 6-11, 15-13, 11-8.

Semi-finals: Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Poymantee Baisya (RSPB) 11-5, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9; Reeth Rishya bt Diya Chitale (Mah) 11-3, 9-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9.

Quarterfinals: Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Sreeja Akula (RBI) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, 12-10; Poymantee Baisya bt Swastika Ghosh (AAI) 6-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, 13-11; Reeth Rishya bt Jennifer Varghese (Mah) 9-11, 11-7, 11-4, 13-11, 11-5; Diya Chitale bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (Guj) 8-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8.

Youth Boys U-19: Final: Ankur Bhattacharjee (Ben) bt Divyansh Srivastava (UP) 12-10, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4.

Youth Girls U-19: Final: Jennifer Varghese (Mah) bt Sayali Wani (Mah) 9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3.

 Youth Boys U-17: Ankur Bhattacharjee (Ben) bt H. Lalruatsanga (Del) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7.

Youth Girls U-17: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Sayanika Maji (Del) 11-6, 12-10, 11-5, 12-10.

Mixed Doubles: Final: Payas Jain/Yashaswini Ghorpade (Del/Kar) bt SFR Snehit/Diya Chitale (AAI/Mah) 11-9, 0-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7.