South Zone Table Tennis | Manush Shah lifts men’s title while
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Gujarat’s Manush Shah managed to win the youth title of National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in the South Zone at the Jimmy George Stadium on Monday. While Vishwa Deenadayalan and Anusha Kutumbale won respective titles in the junior category, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka dominated talent hunt.
After his loss to Manav Thakkar at the season opener at Sonepat during the North Zone Championships, this was a brilliant chance for Shah to make amends, and he did it in the most perfect manner beating Maharashtra’s Raegan Alburquerque 4-3 (7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4).
The junior category saw Tamil Nadu’s Vishwa Deenadayalan getting the better of Aadarsh Om Chetri of Delhi 4-2 (11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6) to lift the boy's title. The girl’s title was won by Madhya Pradesh’s Anusha Kutumbale, who outplayed Munmun Kundu of West Bengal 4-1 (11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6).
This was also the first time that the Union sports ministry had introduced a Talent Identification Event (TIE), which had players above 13 and under-15 age groups. While Karnataka’s KJ Akash won the final defeating Tamil Nadu's Raghuram Prakasham in the boy’s final, Kavyashree Baskar of Tamil Nadu bested Shwetha Murittige of Karnatka in the girl's final.
Results Boys youth final: Manush Shah (Guj) bt Raegan Albuquerque (Mah) 7-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 11-4; Semifinals: Manush bt Mandar Hardikar (Mah) 11-7, 11-,9, 11-3, 11-5; Raegan bt Jeet Chndra (Har) 11-9, 5-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-7; junior final: Vishwa Deenadayalan (TN) bt Aadarsh Om Chetri (Del) 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6; SFs: Vishwa bt Hrishikesh Malhotra (Mah) 11-4, 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5; Aadarsh bt Jayabrata Bhattacharjee (NB) 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4; TIE final: KJ Akash (Kar) bt Raghuram Prakasam (TN) 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-2; SFs: Akash bt Tharun Shanmugam (TN) 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8; Raghuram bt Srikanth Kashyap (Kar) 11-2, 11-9, 11-9;
Girls jr final: Anusha Kutumbale (MP) bt Munmun Kundu (WB) 11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6; SFs: Anusha bt Vanshika Bhargava (Del) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3; Munmun bt Anargya Manjunath (Kar) 4-11, 12-10, 11-1, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6; TIE final: Kavyashree (TN) bt Shewetha Murittige (Kar) 11-7, 2-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5; SFs: Kavyashree bt Sahan Murthy (Kar) 11-5, 11-3, 11-2; Shewetha bt Ekantika Sathish (TN) 11-6, 14-12, 9-11, 11-5.
