Chennai paddler Preyesh claim maiden national title

CHENNAI: Preyesh Raj Suresh, the most consistent player in the cadet boys category, ended his season campaign on a high as the Chennai paddler blew away Havish Asrani of Maharashtra 4-1 to claim his maiden national title in the 11Sports 79th Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the SP Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa on Tuesday.Preyesh won five national-ranking titles this season.
In a battle of left-handers, Preyesh proved superior as the Tamil Nadu looked determined to avenge his last year's semifinal defeat at Siliguri. Preyesh beat Ayan Ghosh in what was a one-sided affair in the semifinals, while Havish, a first-time finalist, fought back well in a tight second semifinal to beat Tejas Narang 3-2.
Suhana Saini, who was trailing 0-2, came back strongly against Maharashtra's Pritha Vartikar to complete a back-to-back title winning performance in the nationals. The match had all the thrills of a final with the Pune girl Pritha leading comfortably and looked favourite to win the race. But Suhana wasn't ready to give it up without a fight. She decided to play her natural attacking game to score maximum points and eventually had the last laugh.
Results (all finals): Cadet boys singles: Preyesh Raj (TN) bt Havish Asrani (MHR) 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-2
Cadet girls singles: Suhana Saini (HRN) bt Pritha Vartikar (MHR) 9-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6
Sub-junior boys singles: H. Jeho (PSPBA) bt Dev Shroff (MHR) 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7
Doubles: Deepit Rajesh Patil-Dev Shroff (MHR) bt Payas Jain-Arush Dutt (Dli) 11-7, 5-11 13-11, 7-11, 11-9.
Sub-junior girls: Diya Chitale (MHR) bt Munmun Kundu (WB) 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5
Doubles: Diya Chitale-Mihika Rohira (MHR) bt Suhana Saini-Poornima Rohilla (HRN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.