Nagpur, Nov 13
City paddler Jennifer Varghese went down fighting in the Under-15 girls' semi-finals in the RYP-Dr. Ramesh Yashwant Prabhoo Memorial 1st Maharashtra State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021-2022, conducted by TSTTA under the auspices of the MSTTA and played at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Krida Sankul, Vile Parle on Saturday.
In the semis, the fifth seed Jennifer lost to top seed -Sana D’Souza (TST). After losing the first game, 10-12, Jennifer restored the parity by winning the second game 12-10 in a hard-fought battle. In the third game, her top-seed opponent Sana bounced back and take the lead. In the fourth game, Jennifer once again made some recovery and restored parity by winning it 11-4. However in the next two games, Sana proved too much strong for Jennifer and as a result, she lost the games 5-11, 6-11.
Earlier in the quarters,-Jennifer Varghese stunned fourth seed Mitali Purkar (NSK) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 easily.
Pune’s Naisha Rewaskar and Thane’s Raina Bhoota emerged champions winning the girls’ under-11, under-13 and under-15 singles crowns respectively
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s fancied paddler Sana the top seed, lived up to her billing and quashed the aspirations of second seed Shubha Bhat of Thane by winning the final in five the games to clinch the girls’ under-15 title.
Results
Girls U-15 - Quarter-finals: 1-Sana D’Souza (TST) beat 9-Rutuja Chinchansure (THN) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8; 5-Jennifer Varghese (NGP) beat 4-Mitali Purkar (NSK) 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8; 3-Radhika Sakpal (PNA) beat 6-Raina Bhoota (THN) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7;2- Shubha Bhat (THN) beat 7-Hardee Patel (TST) 5-11, 15-13, 12-10, 11-7.
Semi-finals: 1-Sana D’Souza (TST) beat 5-Jennifer Varghese (NGP) 12-10, 10-12, 11-3, 4-11, 11-5, 11-6; 2- Shubha Bhat (THN) beat 3-Radhika Sakpal (PNA) 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9.
Finals: 1-Sana D’Souza (TST) beat 2-Shubha Bhat (THN) 12-10, 2-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5.