Thakur, Prabhu claim singles crown in 68th MSTTA championship

Pune, Oct 31 (UNI) Second seed Bhushansingh Thakur of Pune and top seed Mamata Prabhu of Thane posted wins in contrasting styles to claim the men's and women's singles titles in the 68th edition of the Maharashtra State Table Tennis championship, which conluded today at the Shiv Chhtarapati Sports City Mahalunge-Balewadi near here.

However, promising teenager Malika Bhandarkar of Nagpur was the toast of the day lifting a double crown in the championship.

The seasoned campaigner Thakur who called too many shots, made the light work of fourth seed Rohit Choudhari of Jalgaon to canter home in straight games 11-5, 11-5, 11-2, 12-0 to retain the men's singles title.

The error prone Choudhari who was much expected however tried to put a semblence of a fight in the last game, but could not stop the rival from winning the game and the match.

On the other hand, Prabhu the number one seed came back from behind to get the better of third seed Shalmali Mhatre of Mumbai Suburban District 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 and in the bargain regained the women's single crown.

Top seed Madhurika Patkar of Thane had a cake walk to bag the Youth Girls' singles crown. She disposed off fourth seed Saveri Rathod of Nagpur in straight games 11-4, 11-4, 14-12,11-9 in a lacklustre fare.

The day, however, belonged to Bhandarkar who claimed both the Cadet and the Sub-Junior Girls' titles.

In the Cadet section, Bhandarkar disposed off Promita Das of Mumbai Suburban 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 and later she went on to outplay Vedika Garg of Thane 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 in the Sub-Junior Girls singles and thus completed a profitable doble crown.

Following are the results: (Finals) Men's Singles: Bhushansingh Thakur (Pune) beat Rohit Choudhari (Jal) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2, 12-10.

Women's Singles: Mamta Prabhu (Thn) beat Shalmali Mhatre (MSD) 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7.

Youth Girls' Singles: Madhurika Patkar (Thn) beat Saveri Rathod (NGP) 11-4, 11-4, 14-12, 11-9.

Youth Boys' Singles: Sunil Shetty (MSD) beatNiloy Basak (MSD) 11-4, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.

Junior Boys' Singles: Shlok Kamdar (AI) beat Martand Biniwale (AI) 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Junior Girls' Singles: Pooja Sahasrabudhe (AI) beat Sukhda Kulkarni (AI) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6.

Sub-Junior Boys' Singles: Akash Damle (Thn) beat Sagar Shah (MSD) 11-8, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4.

Sub-Junior Girls' Singles: Malika Bhandarkar(NGP) beat Vedika Garg (Thn) 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5.

Cadet Boys' Singles: Davdutt Phadnavis (NGP) beat Soham Nandedkar ( (Nag) 11-5, 11-5, 11-7.

Cadet Girls' Singles: Malika Bhandarkar (NGP) beat Paromita Das (MSD) 11-2, 12-10, 13-11.

UNI IS SSS PDS VC2140