Vadodara, Aug 11 (UNI) The city proved a lucky venue for Manush Shah of RBI and Anusha Kutumbale of the Railways.
Manush bagged his second men’s singles crown at this venue of the first UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, and Anusha travelled far to earn her maiden women’s singles title at the SAMA Indoor Stadium here tonight
Top seed and national champion Manush, the elegant left-hander, picked up from where he left off
in the semifinals, brushing aside 11th seed Ronit Bhanja of the Railways in straight games. Ronit, undone by Manush’s sharp placements and effortless rhythm, could only watch as the RBI paddler dictated every rally.
In the women’s singles final, few would have predicted No. 12 seed Anusha Kutumbale’s commanding triumph over Swastika Ghosh, especially given the speed with which she sealed the gold. The Railways paddler had been in imperious form all day, having dismantled reigning national champion and top seed Diya Chitale in the semifinals with the same authority.
Against Swastika, Anusha wobbled early, conceding the opening game, but quickly switched gears. Her sharp game awareness, clean winners, and relentless pace gradually broke down Diya’s resistance, just as they had undone Diya’s usually reliable counters and topspin game.
With composure and precision, Anusha closed out the contest to lift her maiden National Ranking singles title—a breakthrough moment in her career.
Manush Shah and Ronit Bhanja booked their places in the men’s singles final with hard-fought and identical semi final wins (4-1) over Payas Jain and SFR Snehit, respectively.
In the women’s singles, Anusha and Swastika overcame Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade to set up the title clash. Though it was comparatively easy for Anusha, Swastika was forced to drop two games by her rival.
In the Youth Boys’ singles final, Assam’s Priyanuj Bhattacharyya delivered a performance that reflected both maturity and hunger. Up against Maharashtra’s Kushala Chopda, Priyanuj dictated terms from the outset, blending power with consistency to keep his opponent under constant pressure. It was a far cry from his earlier, less assured outings in major finals, and the one-sided result was proof of his growth. By the end, there was little doubt that the title had gone to the player who had worked harder, thought smarter, and executed better under the spotlight.
In the U-19 girls final, Syndrela Das denied Divyanshi Bhowmick a dream finish, winning 4-2 in a gripping contest. After losing the opening game, the West Bengal paddler led 2-1, saw her opponent hit back, and then edged the sixth 13-11 to close out her second national title.
The U-19 boys’ singles summit will feature Kushal Raut and Priyanuj Bhattacharyya after their straightforward victories. At the same time, Divyanshi Bhowmick and Syndrela Das advanced to the U-19 girls’ singles final after battling through tense five-game encounters.
Ananya Muralidharan, despite leading 2-0, allowed Syndrela to claw her way back and wrap up the match, as did Divyanshi after trailing 0-2 against Ditsa Roy.
