Panchkula: Punjab’s rising star Trijal Vohra stamped his authority on the Under-13 Youth Boys singles field, storming to a commanding 3-0 victory over West Bengal’s Gem Mahalanabish in the final to clinch the glittering trophy on Day Three of the fourth UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Multipurpose Indoor Stadium here today.
Trijal, who had looked in fluent touch throughout the knockouts, maintained his poise in the summit clash, blunting Gem’s early aggression and closing out the contest 11-4, 11-8, 11-9. Though Gem upped his game every game, he ended up finishing as the runner-up.
The victory capped a clinical run that saw the Punjab youngster drop just one game in the knockout phase.
But if the boys’ final was one-way traffic, the Under-13 Youth Girls semifinals delivered every bit of the drama the format can offer. Haryana’s Avni Dua stole the spotlight with a steely 3-2 effort against Karnataka’s Sakshya Santosh, surviving a seesaw battle to earn her maiden national final appearance. She will challenge West Bengal’s Titash Chatterjee, who prevailed in another thriller against state-mate Debanshi Chakraborty, also by a 3-2 margin after a series of momentum-shifting rallies, tomorrow.
With both girls’ semifinals going the distance and the pendulum swinging wildly through each game, spectators were treated to gritty comebacks, long exchanges, and bold shot-making—a testament to the depth and spirit in the U-13 division.
In sharp contrast, the boys’ last-four stage saw straight-games wins for Trijal and Gem, although Trijal had to dig deep in an extended second game against Maharashtra’s Aakarshan Yadav to stay on track.
Earlier, the quarterfinals in both sections had set the tone for an intense day, with the boys producing two five-game battles—including a nerve-soothing win for Soumik Deb and Gem’s determined turnaround—while the girls showcased strong finishes from Avni, Titash, and others en route to the penultimate stage.
Meanwhile, the spotlight tomorrow will also shift to the Under-15 Boys and Girls main draw, which gets underway after the conclusion of the group qualification events earlier in the day. With the qualifiers now identified, the U-15 boards are set for another round of high-octane youth action as top seeds join the fray in pursuit of ranking glory.
Results:
Youth Boys U-13: Final: Trijal Vohra (Pun) bt Gem Mahalanabish (WB) 11-4, 11-8, 11-9.
Semifinals: Gem (WB) bt Soumik Deb (WB) 11-5, 11-9, 11-5; Trijal (Pun) bt Aakarshn Yadav (Mah) 11-4, 12-10, 11-2.
Quarterfinals: Soumik bt Rajdeep Biswas (WB) 11-8, 11-13, 7-11, 11-8, 12-10; Gem bt Dev Bhatt (Guj) 9-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8; Trijal bt Hardik Kumar (Del) 11-8, 11-4, 11-6; Aakarshan bt Suchet Dharennavar (Kar) 10-12, 11-9, 14-12, 11-3.
Pre-quarterfinals: Soumik bt Raghav Mahajan (Mah) 3-0; Rajdeep bt Krish Vinod (TN) 3-0; Dev bt Talasila Maanvith (AP) 3-1; Gem bt H. Tanish (TN) 3-0; Trijal bt Biprojeet Paul (Asm) 3-1; Hardik bt Lakshya Kumar (UP) 3-1; Suchet bt Rijayam Mitra (WB) 3-1; Aakarshan bt Mohak Mishra (Del) 3-1.
Youth Girls U-13: Semifinals: Titash Chatterjee (WB) bt Debanshi Chakraborty (WB) 11-8, 7-11, 15-13, 7-11, 11-9; Avni Dua (Har) bt Sakshya Santosh (Kar) 13-11, 11-8, 13-15, 13-11, 11-8.
Quarterfinals: Debnanshi bt Siddhi Singh (Del) 11-5, 11-6, 11-8; Titash bt Shanaya Tyagi (Del) 14-12, 11-3, 11-3; Avni bt N.K. Hrshitha (Ker) 13-11, 11-7, 5-11, 12-10; Sakshya bt Ishani Gogoi (Asm) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7.
Pre-quarterfinals: Debanshi bt Ambati Pooja (TN) 3-0; Siddhi bt Samaya Pandey (CG) 3-2; Shanaya bt Grace Sukhija (Del) 3-0; Titash bt Avanthika Doupati (Telg) 3-0; Harshitha bt Divija Paul (Asm) 3-2; Avni bt Avni Janghu (Har) 3-1; Ishani bt Riparna Saha (WB) 3-1; Sakshya bt Mihika Udupa (Kar) 3-1.
