Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 | Last Update : 08:09 AM IST
Mihika Rohira fights back to reign supreme
Mihika lived dangerousy throughout the concluding day against Shah.
Third seed Mihika Rohira of Mumbai won the title in the Sub Junior girls category of the Bombay YMCA fourth Maharashtra State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament, at the University Pavilion.
Pune duo and top seeds Devyani Kulkarni and Pritha Vartikar also reigned supreme in their respective categories.
Mihika endured a gruelling day following a nail-biting 10-12, 9-11, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10, 12-10, 11-8 upset win over compatriot, arch-rival and top seed Vidhi Shah for the Sub Junior girls title, after earlier rallying to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Samrudhi Kulkarni of Solapur in the semi-finals.
Mihika lived dangerousy throughout the concluding day. She trailed 0-3 in the final against Shah and then battled to stay alive in the contest before finally snatching four gripping games in a row, as the most engrossing championship round went down to the wire.
Devyani Kulkarni beat Jennifer Varghese of Nagpur 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8 for the Midget Girls crown and Pritha Vartikar of Sus Road, Pune beat Arya Songadkar of Thane 11-7, 11-2, 11-9 for the Cadet Girls title.
Top seed Deepit Patil of Thane was the other noteworthy champion when he beat seventh seed Hrishikesh Malhotra of Mumbai Suburban in four straight games to end the latter’s winning streak. Earlier, Malhotra stunned second seed compatriot Maanav Mehta in the quarter-finals and sixth seed Dev Shroff 4-3 in a semi-final thriller.
Earlier in the day, Pune’s fifth seed Neil Mulye of Abhinav English Vidyalaya, Kothrud upset fourth seed Chaitanya Ahuja of Mumbai City in a 3-2 thriller to enter the Cadet Boys semi-finals. Mulye fashioned a 13-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-4 win in a nail-biter after dropping the second and crucial fourth games.
