Arunim Agarwal, West Bengal paddlers shine at UTT National Ranking Championships

Arunim Agarwal, Ariv Dutta, Rajdeep Biswas and Gem Mahalanabish reached the Under-13 boys’ semifinals at the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Kanour. The girls’ section also saw Divija Paul, Ishani Gogoi, Mahika Susvirkar and Khyati Pande advance.

Hyderabad: The third day of the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Sportz Hub in Kanour witnessed some absorbing battles in the Under-13 boys and girls sections, with the boys’ quarterfinals producing a particularly thrilling five-game encounter, while two of the girls’ last-eight matches also went the full distance.

In the Under-13 Boys, top-ranked West Bengal continued their strong performance, with Ariv Dutta and Rajdeep Biswas securing their places in the semifinals. Ariv overcame Tamil Nadu’s H. Tanish 11-6, 15-13, 11-7, though the second game went right down to the wire. Rajdeep, meanwhile, defeated Maharashtra’s Adhiraj Chauhan 11-4, 11-6, 13-11, recovering from a late challenge in the third game to close out the match.

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The most exciting boys’ quarterfinal was undoubtedly the five-game battle between Delhi’s Arunim Agarwal and West Bengal’s Debanshu Chakraborty. Arunim made a bright start, but Debanshu fought back to level the contest twice. With neither player willing to give ground, the deciding fifth game became a test of nerves, with Arunim eventually holding his composure to prevail 5-11, 13-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9.

West Bengal’s Gem Mahalanabish completed the boys’ semifinal line-up after overcoming PSPBA’s Raayan Borthakur 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8. Raayan pulled one game back after trailing 0-2, but Gem regained control in the fourth to book his place in the last four.

The Under-13 Girls section also produced two matches that stretched to four and five games. Assam’s Divija Paul held her nerve against Uttar Pradesh’s Pehel Gupta, winning 3-1 in a closely fought contest. Maharashtra’s Mahika Susvirkar had to come from behind twice against compatriot Keshika Purkar before securing a hard-earned 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 victory in five games.

Ishani Gogoi of Assam made comparatively light work of West Bengal’s Aradhya Dey Sarkar, winning 3-0, while Delhi’s Khyati Pande defeated Uttar Pradesh’s Anishika Gupta 3-0 to complete the girls’ semifinal line-up.

Results:

Youth Boys Under-13: Quarterfinals: Ariv Dutta (WB) bt H. Tanish (TN) 11-6, 15-13, 11-7; Rajdeep Biswas (WB) bt Adhiraj Chauhan (Mah) 11-4, 11-6, 13-11; Arunim Agarwal (Del) bt Debanshu Chakraborty (WB) 5-11, 13-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9; Gem Mahalanabish (WB) bt Raayan Borthakur (PSPBA) 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8.

Youth Girls Under-13: Quarterfinals: Divija Paul (Asm) bt Pehel Gupta (UP) 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 13-11; Ishani Gogoi (Asm) bt Aradhya Dey Sarkar (WB) 11-4, 11-8, 11-3; Mahika Susvirkar (Mah) bt Keshika Purkar (Mah) 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8; Khyati Pande (Del) bt Anishika Gupta (UP) 11-9, 11-8, 11-6.