The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Sanil and Neha win titles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006

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Sport - Table Tennis

Sanil and Neha win titles

Special Correspondent

JUST A BEGINNING: Neha Agarwal and Sanil Shetty were not at their fluent best but still managed to emerge as South Asia's top junior paddlers. - PHOTO: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH

KOLKATA: Sanil Shetty and Neha Agarwal were crowned champions at the SAIL South Asian junior table tennis tournament at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. Neha went on to claim a double by winning the doubles title as well, partnering Prajakta Tipale.

Sanil overcame an error-prone game to deny Aniket Koparkar a double crown by winning the singles final 11-9, 11-5, 5-11, 11-13, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7. It was also a sweet revenge for Sanil, who along with Sivananda Seshadiri lost the doubles title to Koparkar and Devesh Karia. Neha defeated Aslesha Bodas in the girls' final 11-9, 11-4, 6-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9 in a mediocre match.

Consistent

Sanil took the first two games before his rival could even settle down. He repeatedly caught Koparkar on the wrong foot with his angled shots and was severe on anything loose. But, Koparkar did not lose heart and fought back, cutting down on negative points. Playing close to the table, he came up with some consistent play to force Sanil to concede the next three games.

Leading 3-2, Koparkar should have wrapped up the next game to win the title but it was not to be. Having no choice but to go for an all-out attack, Sanil managed to win the sixth game and took the match into the decider. It was a neck and neck affair till 7-7 from there and Sanil finally prevailed.

Error-prone Aslesha

Earlier, Neha was not at her best due to a recent illness. She feasted on Aslesha's errors to get points to win the first two games. When Aslesha began to get her shots in, Neha found it hard to contain her opponent in a match that hardly witnessed any rally.

Despite losing the next two games, Neha just kept herself in the match by keeping the ball in play. Aslesha made plenty of errors thereafter to lose the match rather tamely.

The SAIL Indian junior Open begins at the same venue on Wednesday. Among the three foreign participants, Iran has withdrawn leaving only Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong to join the South Asian countries in the $ 15,000 prizemoney championship.

The results: Boys: Singles (final): Sanil Shetty bt Aniket Koparkar 11-9, 11-5, 5-11, 11-13, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7. Semifinals: S. Shetty bt Devesh Karia 14-12, 11-7, 11-6, 12-14, 13-11; Koparkar bt Sivananda Seshadiri 11-4, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3. Doubles (final): Karia/Koparkar bt Shetty/Seshadiri 11-6, 4-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-9.

Girls: Singles (final): Neha Agarwal bt Aslesha Bodas 11-9, 11-4, 6-11, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9.

Semifinals: Neha bt Prajakta Tipale 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 14-12, 11-9; Aslesha bt K. Shamini 11-6, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9. Doubles (final): Prajakta/Neha bt Shamini/Aslesha 11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 16-14.

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