Chandigarh, December 20: Kesavan Kannan could not repeat his semifinal performance a second time in the final and Telangana had to settle for the silver medal as Tamil Nadu lifted the Sub-Junior Boys trophy in the 11Sports 80th Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the Basketball Hall of Sector 42 Sports Complex here today.

The 3-0 verdict in favour of Tamil Nadu in the final must have come as a disappointment for the new state, but its boys deserved all the appreciation for knocking the stuffing out of Delhi, the real title contender, 3-2 in the semifinals earlier.

With Preyesh Raj Suresh and Vishwa Deenadayalan in their ranks, Tamil Nadu had the experience and guile. So, it was no surprise that they claimed the tam trophy. However, what endeared Telangana was the way they fought the semifinals, especially the cool Kesavan, who literally carried the team into the final against an experienced line-up of Delhi, comprising Payas Jain and Aadarsh Om Chetri, the top-ranked individuals.

Kesavan played his role to perfection, first levelling the score after Payas had put Delhi ahead. But Delhi went 2-1 up after the doubles win putting Telangana under pressure once again. But Karthik showed no sign of nerves as he beat Aadarsh to give a new lease of life which Kesavan utilized well against Payas. The Telangana boy was 0-1 in the decider but stroked his way to dismantle the Delhi boy to give his team a rare opportunity in the final. But, unfortunately, the Tamil Nadu proved too strong for them in the title-round.

But their Sub-Junior Girls were not as lucky which Karnataka won 3-2 in a thrilling final to claim their title. In the see-saw final, the pendulum of fortune swung from one extreme to another, taking the issue to the fifth rubber after Tamil Nadu’s Kavyashree Baskar had beaten Anargaya Manjunath 3-2 to level the score 2-2.

Yashaswini Ghorpade, who lost their second singles to Kavyashree 2-3, did well to come back against Shreya Shivakumar to win 3-1, giving the crown to Karnataka. The one-dimensional player who hardly played a forehand shot, was lacking both in imagination and strategy, In her first singles she wilted under pressure from Kavyashree, who was very passive in her approach, and failed to seize the initiative. But she came into her own after losing the first game to beat Shreya who could not handle as well as Kavyashree did against Anargaya in the fourth rubber.

West Bengal boys and girls were clear winners in the Cadet section as they beat Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra B by the same margin of 3-0 to claim the team championships.

Results:

Sub-Junior Boys (Final): Tamil Nadu bt Telangana 3-0 (Preyesh Raj Suresh bt Kesavan Kannan 11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 12-10, 11-5, Vishwa Deenadayalan bt Karthik Sai Krishna 5-11, 11-2, 11-9, 11-9, Preyesh/Vishwa bt Kesavan/Karthik 11-3, 11-8, 14-16, 11-7); Semifinals: Tamil Nadu bt North Bengal 3-0 (Preyesh Raj Suresh bt Soumyadeep Sarkar 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, Vishwa Deenadayalan bt Shreyangshu Sen 11-7, 11-6, 11-5, Preyesh/Vishwa bt Soumyadeep/Shreyangshu 11-8, 11-4, 11-5); Telangana bt Delhi 3-2 (Karthik Sai Krishna lost to Payas Jain 3-11, 12-10, 11-13, 8-11, Kesavan Kannan bt Aadarsh Chetri 11-8,11-5, 12-14, 3011, 12-10, Karthik/Kesawan lost to Payas/Aadarsh 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, Karthik Sai Krishna bt Aadarsh Chetri 12-10, 13-11, 13-11, Kesavan Kannan bt Payas Jain 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11).

Sub-Junior Girls (Final): Karnataka bt Tamil Nadu 3-2 (Anargaya Manjunath bt Shreya Shivakumar 16-18, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5, Yashaswini Ghorpade lost to Kavyashree Baskar 9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 10-12, Anargaya/Yashaswini bt Kavyashree/Shreya 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, Anargaya Manjunath lost to Kavyashree Baskar 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 13-15, Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Shreya Shivakumar 11-13m 11-7, 11-7, 11-8);Semifinals: Tamil Nadu bt West Bengal 3-0 (Kavyashree Baskar bt Prithoki Chakraborti 12-10, 11-7, 19-17, Shreya Shivakumar bt Sneha Bhowmick 11-5, 5-11, 8-11, 11-1, 11-8, Kavyashree/Shreya bt Prithok/Oishiki Joradar 9-11, 1-3, 11-7, 13-11); Karnataka bt Maharashtra A 3-0 (Anargaya Manjunath bt Taneesha Kotecha 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Pritha Vartikar 15-13, 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-5, Anargaya/Yashaaswini bt Taneesha/Pritha 11-8, 11-4, 11-8).

Cadet Boys (Final): West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Oishik Ghosh bt P.B. Abhinandh 11-5, 11-8, 11-7, Emon Adhikary bt Balamurugan Rajasekaran 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, Oishik/Emon bt Balamurugan/Abhinandh 11-4, 11-7, 11-8); Semifinals: Tamil Nadu bt Haryana 3-1 (P.B. Abhinandh bt Arnavv Chhabra 11-9, 7-11, 13-11, 11-9, Balamurugan Rajasekaran bt Divy Nagpal 11-6, 11-4, 11-9, Abhinandh/Balamurugan lost to Arnavv/Sidhanth 11-8, 4-11, 9-11, 9-11, Balamurugan Rajasekaran bt Arnaav Chhabra 11-9, 11-4, 11-6); West Bengal bt Maharashtra A 3-2 (Emon Adhikary bt Akshat Jain 11-9, 11-5, 11-4, Oishik Ghosh lost to Gaurav Panchangam 8-11, 8-11, 7-11, Emon/Oishik bt Gaurav/Kushal Chopda 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-4, Emon Adhikary lost to GAurav Panchangam 11-13, 13-11, 11-6, 8-11, 3-11, Oishik Ghosh bt Akshat Jain 11-6, 11-7, 11-7).  

Cadet Girls (Final): West Bengal bt Maharashtra B 3-0 (Nandini Saha bt Jennifer Varghese 13-11, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10, Sayani Panda bt Sayali Baxi 11-4, 11-1, 12-10, Sayani/Sandika Bhattacharya bt Jennifer/Sayali 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7); Semifinals: Maharashtra B bt Maharashtra A 3-0 (Jennifer Varghese bt Radhika Sakpal 6-1, 11-6, 11-8, 12-1, 12-10, Sayali Baxi bt Hardee Patel 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, Jennifer/Sayali bt Radhika/Hardee 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5); West Bengal bt Karnatka 3-0 (Nandini Saha bt Niharika Ananth Kumar 11-7, 11-6, 11-8, Sayani Panda bt Ssanvi Pandith 11-1, 11-2, 11-4, Sayani/Sandika bt Niharika/Saanvi 11-6, 11-7, 11-1).