Ananya Chande wins cadet girls crown

Ananya Chande sailed past Keisha Jhaveri for the cadet girl’s crown in the second CCI Juniors Table Tennis tournament, at the Cricket Club of India. After enduring a hard-fought semi-final win, Ananya had it easy in the final. She registered a straight sets 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 title win. In the semi-final, Mukta Dalvi stretched her before prevailing 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9.

Hrishikesh Malhotra and state champion Raegan Albuquerque also emerged champions in their respective categories after hard fought wins. Malhotra ended Rutvick Nagle’s dream run with a 11-8, 11-8, 3-11, 8-11, 11-6 win after leading 2-0, while Albuquerque, India’s doubles silver winner at the Indian Open this year, overcame 12-year-old Aadil Anand 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 in a tightly fought contest.

Earlier, in the semi-finals, Albuquerque laboured to a 3-2 win over Parthav Kelkar, while Hiya Doshi stunned Krisha Agarwal in the junior girls semi-finals in another 3-2 thriller. The other winners were, Havish Asrani (cadet boys), Vidhi Shah (sub junior girls) and Aditi Sinha (junior girls).