UTT 65th National School Games Table Tennis Championships: Delhi paddlers Payas Jain, Vanshika Bhargava storm into final

Vadodara, January 7: Tournament favourites Delhi paddlers Payas Jain and Vanshika Bhargava registered contrasting victories to enter the finals at the UTT 65th National School Games Table Tennis Championships, under the aegis of School Games Federation of India (SGFI), at Sama Indoor Sports Stadium in Vadodara on Tuesday (January 7).

While national champion Payas outclassed CISCE's Rajveer Shah 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 in a one-sided U-17 boys semi-final, top-seeded Vanshika had to work hard after being two sets down against Gujarat's Aafrien Murad in the U-17 girls' semi-final. However, India No. 4 Vanshika recovered well in time to cliched a five-set thriller 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 13-11.

Payas will take on West Bengal's Aniket Sen Choudhary, who stunned top-seed Yashansh Malik of Delhi 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in another semi-final, in the gold medal match in the competition which is jointly organised by UTT and Table Tennis Association of Baroda (TTAB). While Vanshika will face challenge of West Bengal's Munmun Kundu in the title clash. Munmun beat Vedhalakshmi of Tamil Nadu 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7 in the other semi-final.

The Championships is supported by the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG), Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) and Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan (VMSS). And it is sponsored by IOCL, ONGC, GAIL and GACL.

Results (singles semi-finals):

U-19 boys: Shreyaans Goel (Delhi) bt Abir Roy (West Bengal) 15-13, 11-3, 11-5; Wesley Do Rosario (Haryana) bt Akash Pal (West Bengal) 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9.

U-19 girls: Tisha Kohli (Delhi) bt Tejal Kamble (Maharashtra) 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-4; Vidhi Shah (Maharashtra) bt Samruddhi Kulkarni (Maharashtra) 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-4.

U-17 boys: Aniket Sen Choudhury (West Bengal) bt Yashansh Malik (Delhi) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Payas Jain (Delhi) bt Rajveer Shah (CISCE) 11-7, 11-3, 12-10.

U-17 girls: Vanshika Bhargava (Delhi) bt Aafrien Murad (Gujarat) 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 13-11; Munmun Kundu (West Bengal) bt DK Vedhalakshmi (Tamil Nadu) 11-6, 4-11, 11-4, 11-7.

Source: Media Release