Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ankur Bhattacharjee emerged champions at the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Goa on Monday.
In the women’s singles final, an intriguing clash unfolded with youngster Yashaswini Ghorpade, chasing her second title after her recent victory in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, facing star paddler Sutirtha Mukherjee, who was fresh from winning India’s maiden women’s doubles medal in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Displaying her attacking mastery, Sutirtha, representing Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), staved off a spirited fightback from Yashaswini of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) to win the title with a 4-2 win (11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3).
The victory demonstrated Sutirtha’s ability as a singles player, while she has achieved substantial success with Ayhika Mukherjee in women’s doubles in the international arena.
Sutirtha, displaying her blitzkrieg form, defeated Diya Chitale 3-1 in the quarterfinals and Taneesha Kotecha in the semifinals.
In the men’s singles final, youngster Ankur of PSPB continues to grow as a promising player as he defeated Railways’ emerging star Ronit Bhanja 11-7, 11-5, 12-10, 13-11 to emerge champion.
The victory marked a significant career milestone for Ankur, underlining his immense potential. Ankur has been in magnificent form since he won the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championship in Arunachal Pradesh in May. At the UTT, playing for Puneri Paltan, he won four of his five matches, including a win against Frenchman Lilian Bardet.
Ankur outshone Yashansh Malik of Delhi in the men’s singles semifinals with a commanding 3-1 win.