Natasha Chethan retains junior girls title at Heyball National Championships

Karnataka's Natasha Chethan successfully defended her junior girls' title at the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun, defeating Tamil Nadu's Padmakshee C 5-1. The World Junior Championships bronze medallist dominated the final and strengthened her credentials ahead of the women's event

Hyderabad: Dominant Natasha Chethan of Karnataka retained her junior girls’ (U-19) title with an authoritative 5-1 win over Tamil Nadu’s Padmakshee C in the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun.

Fresh from winning a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Norway two weeks ago, Natasha carried that form into the premier tournament, hardly putting a foot wrong en route to the title.

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Both cueists started tentatively in the race-to-five final. Once Natasha took the opening rack, she found her rhythm and range, running through the next three racks in double-quick time and reducing her rival to a mere spectator.

Following an error by Padmakshee midway through the second rack, the Bengalurean made a brilliant run. In the third, she got lucky twice, fluking a striped ball into the top right-hand pocket. With a wave of her hand to her rival, she continued her run, capitalising on another fortunate fluke into the bottom right-hand pocket.

In the fourth rack, Padmakshee began to find her touch but missed the last ball into the bottom left-hand pocket, letting Natasha off the hook. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, the tall teenager took the rack.

The Tamil Nadu cueist made a last-ditch effort by pulling one back in the fifth rack, capitalising on Natasha’s error. However, she failed to maintain the momentum and committed far too many errors, allowing Natasha to close out the match in the next rack.

The champion cueist from Bengaluru is set to be a major contender in the women’s event, which begins on Sunday.

**Results:** Junior girls: Final: Natasha Chethan (Kar) bt Padmakshee C (TN) 5-1.

**Final standings:** 1. Natasha Chethan (Kar); 2. Padmakshee C (TN); 3. Gianna Rego (Mah); 4. Aleina Khanna (Del); 5. Usha Jyothi (AP); 6. Angel Kamboj (Har); 7. Harleen Kaur (Pun); 8. Leisha Reddy (Tel).