Howrah, October 20: Second-seeded Preysh Raj Suresh came into his own to subdue title-favourites Aadarsh Om Chetri of Delhi 4-2 to not only own the trophy, but also avenge his South Zone defeat in the Sub-Junior Boys final in the UTT National Ranking (East Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Howrah Indoor Stadium here today.

A little while ago, Delhi’s Lakshita Narang decimated Suhana Saini, also the crown-favourites, 4-0 to lift the glittering trophy in a long time.

The Tamil Nadu left-hander, with his variety of service and excellent backhand, was right on the money with his game plan today. He had all answers to Aadarsh’s top shots, forcing the normally speedy paddler. Preyes also exploited the angles well and it was rather difficult for the Delhi boy, especially in the sixth game after having done everything right until the fifth. The left-hander went from strength to strength in the sixth and won with a lit of spare.

The Delhi girl, who hasn’t had any success recently in the national ranking championships tasted sweet win when she blanked out favourites Suhana Saini of Haryana. In fact, it was a contrasting win for Lakshita, who had a scratchy semi-final while Suhana had emphatically beaten her rival in the semis. However, in the final the Delhi girl had the upper hand throughout and played superbly, converting maximum winners. On the other hand, Suhana was error-prone and was unable to counter Lakshita’s easy flowing forehands not contain her at any stage.

In Sub-Junior Boys semi-finals, top-seeded Aadarsh Om Chetri of Delhi, after dropping a game, overcame Sarth Mishra of UP 4-1 and he will clash with Preyesh Raj Suresh of Tamil Nadu in the final. The Tamil Nadu paddler defeated Rajveer Shah of Maharashtra with a similar score-line, after leading 3-0.

Earlier in the quarters, Aadarsh Chetri rolled over UP’s Shivam Chandra 3-1, Sarth Mishra defeated Aadil Anand of Maharashtra with a similar margin, Preyesh Raj beat Maharashtra’s Jash Modi in straight games while Rajveer Shah, also of Maharashtra, downed West Bengal’s Bodhisatwa Chaudhary 3-1 despite the latter’s stiff resistance.

In Sub-Junior Girls semi-finals, Haryana’s Suhana Saini beat her bête noir from Tamil Nadu, Kavyashree Baskar, 4-0. It was the best result achieved by the Haryana paddler against Kavyashree in recent times. She takes on in the final Delhi’s Lakshita Narang, who scrapped past Taneeesha Kotecha of Maharashtra 4-2.

In the quarterfinals, Suhana beat Pritha Vartikar of Maharshtra 3-1 while Kavyashree Baskar downed Ananya Chande, also of Maharashtra, in straight games. In the other match, Lakshita Narang accounted for Karuna Gajendran of Karnataka 3-2 in a see-saw match and so did Taneesha Kotecha against Nehal Venkatasary of Tamil Nadu in a similar result.

PRIYANUJ, RUPSA AMONG TITLES

Both the Cadet Boys and Girls finals were the best on view in recent times and went down to the wire. In a contest between two PSPB Academy boys, Priyanuj Bhattacharyya upped the ante in the decider to claim his maiden title, beating Divyaj Rajkhowa Roy 4-3.

But among the two, who know each other’s games well, went with the flow and Divyaj was leading 2-1 before Priyanuj caught up with his rival first and then went up 3-2. Yet, Divyaj restored parity in the sixth but lost his steam in the decider as Priyanuj completed the task rather quickly.

Rupsa Ghoshal from West Bengal was comfortably leading 3-1 but Sharvani Nagam played brilliantly to equal at 3-3. In the decider, however, Rupsa stopped the Tamil Nadu girl three points short to lift her cup in her first appearance in the final.

In the first semi-final, it proved to be an easy task for Divyaj Raj who disposed of North Bengal’s Punit Biswas 3-0. Joining him the final race was teammate Priyanun Bhattacharyya who accounted for P.B. Abhinand of Tamil Nadu, who did fight well in the last two games and managed to delay Priyanum’s victory.

In Cade Girls’ semi-finals, Sharvani Nagam found a match in her West Bengal opponent Diya Bramhachary as their match got stretched fully before the Tamil Nadu paddler could wrap it up. The match saw some good rallies and to the credit of the West Bengal player, she did well to prolong the agony of Sharvani. In the other semis, Rupsa Ghoshal dropped a game after leading 2-0 before pulling the curtains on her rival.

Results:

Cadet Boys: Final: Priyanun Bhattacharyya (PSPBA) bt Divyaj Rajkhowa Roy (PSPBA) 11-4, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3; Semi-finals: Divyaj Roj bt Punit Biswas (NB) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4; Priyanun Bhattacharyya bt P.B. Abhinand (TN) 11-7, 12-10, 12-10.

Cadet Girls: Final: Rupsa Ghoshal (WB) bt Sharvani Nagam (TN) 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 8-11, 11-8; Semi-finals: Sharvani Nagam bt Diya Bramhachary (WB) 11-7, 1-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6; Rupsa Ghoshal bt Jennifer Varghese (Mah) 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6.

Sub-Junior Boys: Final: Preyesh Raj Suresh (TN) bt Aadarsh Om Chetri (Del) 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8; Semi-finals: Aadarsh Om Chetri bt Sarth Mishra (UP) 11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7; Preyesh Raj bt Rajveer Shah (Mah) 11-1, 12-10, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9; Quarterfinals: Aadarsh Om Chetri bt Shivam Chandra (UP) 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8; Sarth Mishra bt Aadil Anand (Mah) 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9; Preyesh Raj bt Jash Modi (Mah) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7; Rajveer Shah bt Bodhisatwa Chaudhary of West Bengal 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 14-12.

Sub-Junior Girls: Final: Lakshita Narang (Del) bt Suhana Saini (Har)11-8, 11-8, 11-3, 11-8;

Semi-finals: Suhana Saini bt Kavyashree Baskar (TN) 11-4, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6; Lakshita Narang bt Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) 11-4, 11-4, 6-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6; Quarterfinals: Suhana Saini (Har) bt Pritha Vartikar (Mah) 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6; Kavyashree Baskar (TN) bt Ananya Chande (Mah) 11-9, 11-5, 11-8; Lakshita Narang (Del) bt Karuna Gajendran (Kar) 9-11, 11-1, 11-1, 5-11, 11-6; Taneesha Kotecha (Mah) bt Nehal Venkatasamy (TN) 8-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-1.