GUWAHATI, Nov 19 - Abhishek Yadav returned to form in time for the Youth and Junior Nationals, to be held at Dharamsala, when he wrested the Youth Boys title beating PSPB team mate Sudhanshu Grover 4-3 in the final of the National Ranking (East Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Deshbakhta Tarunram Phukan Indoor Stadium here last evening.
In Youth Girls final, Manika Batra overcame a 1-3 deficit to beat Reeth Rishya 4-3 and retain the crown she won at the North Zone championships at New Delhi early this month. Incidentally, Manika faced the same opponent in New Delhi too.
For Abhishek, who won his first title this season at Chennai, against the same opponent the going was not easy. For Sudhanshu, who won the title at New Delhi beating Arjun Ghosh, had all the firepower in his arsenal and the players know each other�s game, too well. But in the end, the southpaw struck form as was evident. Grover, on the other hand, could up the ante when it mattered as Abhishek had taken a sizeable lead of 3-1. Though Sudhanshu managed to win the fifth game, it was too late and too little.
Earlier in the day, two Tamil Nadu boys-Vishwa Deenadayalan and Varun Ganesh-bowed out in Cadet Boys semifinals. Particularly for Vishwa, it was a disappointment since it presented him with an opportunity to win his second title after Chennai. Varun, a promising paddler, it was so near and yet so far.
In Cadet Girls, it was an encouraging sign to see two new faces in the final as title-favourite Kavyasree Baskar of Tamil Nadu and Sneha Bowmick of West Bengal were eliminated in the semifinals.
Results: (Youth Boys Final) Abhishek Yadav (PSPB) bt Sudhanshu Grover (PSPB) 4-2 (11-8, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8). (Youth Girls Final) Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Reeth Rishya (PSPB) 4-3 11-3, 8-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-1). (Cadet Boys Final) Payas Jain (Del) bt Divyash Srivastava (UP) 4-3 (11-9, 12-14, 11-13, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7).
