Ahmedabad: Filzah Fatema Kadri and Chitrax Bhatt beat restless minutes as they satisfied their front and center attention to win the Junior (U-19) titles at the first Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021 (Phase II) in Jamnagar.
Top seed Filzah from Surat had a battle in hand in her 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2 win over Aafrien Murad in the Junior Girls (U-19) final.
Ahmedabad’s Chitrax beat Burhanuddin Malubhai of Surat 15-13, 11-7, 11-9, 12-10 to pocket the Junior Boys’ (U-19) crown.
Milli Tanna took third place in Junior Girls’ (U-19) category after the youngster from Surat ended Rutva Kothari’s impressive run with an 11-4, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10 win.
Unseeded Rutva created a flutter when she shocked Kausha Bhairapure of Ahmedabad 5-11, 11-9, 11-7, 1-11, 11-7 in the pre-quarters. Meanwhile, in quarters, Rutva beat Khushi Jadav 11-9, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 while Milli shocked Namna Jayswal of Bhavnagar 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9. Aafrien beat Riya Jayswal of Bhavnagar 11-4, 7-11, 12-14, 14-12, 11-2, 11-4 while Filzah beat Naitri Dave of Bhavnagar 11-6, 11-6, 11-13, 11-0, 11-8.
In the semis, Filzah defeated Milli 11-6, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 while Aafrien overcame a spirited Rutva for an 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 10-12, 11-9, 14-12 win.
The Boys’ semi-finals were a case of close matches with both Chitrax and Burhanuddin surviving scares. Chitrax overturned a two-game deficit to beat fourth seed Abhilash Raval 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 while Burhanuddin summed all his strength to beat third seed Shlok Bajaj of Surat 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 3-11, 13-11.
