KOLKATA: Syndrela Das hates to travel on her birthday. But she made her 17th birthday away from home memorable by bagging a ‘double’ winning the Under-19 and women’s singles titles at the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships that concluded in Kanpur on Sunday.It was a day devoted totally on the board as the rising Bengal table tennis star played seven matches throughout the day without a defeat, beating Tamil Nadu’s Ananya Muralidharan 4-1 in the U-19 final and then overcoming Maharashtra’s Divyanshi Bhowmick 4-2 in a closely fought title-clash in the women’s final.The victories could not have come at a better time for Das, who will become the youngest Indian athlete in the upcoming Asian Games a month later. Das, who finished runner-up at the Senior Nationals in Indore in March, had to toil hard to edge past PSPB’s Swastika Ghosh 4-3 (11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9) in the women’s semifinal. In a topsy-turvy battle, Das was trailing 4-7 in the decider before recovering to seal the match 11-9.Das had to bring her best against her friend and biggest rival on the domestic circuit Bhowmick in the final as the Maharashtra paddler won the opening game 11-9. Das responded with two straight games but Bhowmick levelled at 2-2 with an 11-5 win in the fourth game, only for Das to regain the lead winning the fifth 11-7. She then held her nerve in a tight sixth game to bag the title.However, the U-19 final went much smoother for Das.Final ResultsWomen’s singles: Syndrela Das (WB) bt Divyanshi Bhowmick (Mah) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9.Youth Girls U-19 singles: Syndrela Das (WB) bt Ananya Muralidharan (TN) 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4.
✍️ Vikrant Kharwar
Vikrant Kharwar is the Founder and Editor of News Us Media. He writes about trending news, sports, entertainment, technology, and viral stories. His goal is to make news simple, informative, and easy to understand for readers across the United States and around the world.
