Alappuzha, June 23 (FN Agency) Delhi’s Payas Jain defeated statemate Yashansh Malik 4-3 to successfully defend his Youth Boys Under 19 singles title in the 83rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the YMCA facilities here on Thursday. The win was worth Rs. 72,000 in prize money. But the win came after toil and sweat in what was one of the best finals in recent times. Even before what both Payas and Yashansh did, Bodhistawa Chaudhury and Preyesh Raj Suresh played out another thrilling final in the Under-17 Boys that the former won to lift his maiden trophy. In the match between Payas and Yashansh, playing for Delhi together, they knew each other for 10 years, and it was not surprising that they tookthe match to the seventh game. But what surprised everyone was the way Yashansh got his shots so well to put Payas in all sorts of trouble. The big rallies and service winners dominated the final. Payas should have sealed the match when he led 5-1 in the sixth game but Yashansh staged a remarkable comeback to take it to the decider.
In the last game, he led 3-1 before Yashansh changedsides at 5-4. But Payas allowed him just a point before finishing in style when he got going with his backhand flips that fetched him a good number of points. In the left versus left final in Under-17, Bodhistawa Chaudhury from West Bengal got it all right, particularly with his excellent service and a crucial net-cord point to wrap the match 4-2. The maiden national championships title apart, the Bengal boy carried home Rs. 60,000 in prize money. The final did not disappoint the spectators one bit as they could see a range of shots, from close to the table to away from the table, long rallies and excellent service variations. Preyesh’s undoing was his backhand which failed to come off as gently as it used to be. But Budhistawa was superb in the afternoon with his executions.
In the last game, he was down 4-7, 8-6. But three good service points brought him back to the stage from where he could dictate terms. At 10-9, he held a match point and when Preyesh deuced, it gave the latter a semblance of a chance. But it was not to be and the West Bengal lad earned a lucky to lift the trophy.After playing two back-to-back tough matches, including the quarterfinals last night, a much-relaxed Payas went about his task clinically. The top seed did get extended by the talented Ankur Bhattacharjee of West Bengal in the second and third games, but it did not alter the result of the match, as the World No. won 4-0. Yashansh Malik struggled before overcoming Deepit Rajesh Patil 4-3 in the second semifinal. The Delhi boy was in some trouble after Deepit levelled the match 2-2. Despite the pressure on him, Yashansh kept attacking to unsettle the Maharashtra boy.
Preyesh Raj Suresh struck form in the quarterfinals and semifinals to enter the final in the Under-17 Youth Boys section. The left-hander defeated Khelendrajit Yengkhom of Manipur 4-1 after surging into a 2-0 lead. Though dropped the next game, the Tamil Nadu boy wrapped it up before any further hiccup to post a 4-1 triumph. But the Manipuri lad did exceedingly well to come back in the quarterfinals. Bodhisatwa Chaudhury from West Bengal, too, dropped one game in the middle, but Shlok Bajaj of Gujarat could not make any headway. Bodhisatwa showed patience and variety on the table, which won him many admirers. However, last night most of the seeded players in both sections exited earlier than expected jeopardising their selection chances and leaving the national selectors in a fix.