Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], March 1 : Ankur Bhattacharjee proved to be too strong for the U/19 boys' category as he beat Abhinandh Pradhivadhi 3-0 (11/5, 18/16, 11/5) in the finals of World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender 2025.
Abhinandh showed some fight in the second set, pushing Ankur to the brink, but Ankur recovered quickly to take the third and final game very easily. Bhattacharjee won the category without dropping a single set, proving why he was the favourite to win the event from the start, as per a WTT release.
Divyanshi Bhowmick struck gold once again in the U/15 category, taking her tally to two individual gold medals and one silver medal in the U/15 mixed category. She became the most prolific player of the event, taking home the most medals. The U/15 girls' final was played between Divyanshi Bhowmick and Satya Aspathi (USA), a match won by Divyanshi 3-1 (11/6, 7/11, 11/6, 11/6). This is a remarkable feat by Divyanshi as she takes home the most medals by an Indian player at this event, winning two golds in U/15 and U/17 girls' singles and a silver in the U/15 mixed doubles.
Syndrela Das won the U/19 girls' singles after trailing 1-2 against Ananya Chande. Syndrela proved her mettle and kept calm even when she was trailing to take the crown of the U/19 girls' event. The match was full of long rallies that compelled both players to cover almost every spot that the table had to offer, but Syndrela's forehand blinders proved to be too strong.
Sahil Rawat played a near-perfect final to win the U/15 boys' category, beating Atharva Nawarange 3-0 (11/4, 11/5, 11/6). Atharva had a great run into the semi-finals, upsetting 4th seed Aditya Das, but could not find any answers for Sahil's forehand winners. Sahil barely broke a sweat all tournament as he dropped just a single set throughout, becoming an extremely well-deserved champion of the U/15 boys.
Divija Paul blanked out Avni Janghu in the finals of the U/11 girls' category with a one-sided scoreline of 3-0 (11/4, 11/4, 11/8). Avni had earlier knocked out top seed Aadya Baheti in the semi-finals, whilst Divija made quick work of the second seed, Jinaya Vadhan. Ishaan Goyal beat Taavi Samaraweera from Sri Lanka in a five-set thriller in the finals of the U/11 boys' category. Taavi looked like he would close out the match after being 2-1 up, but Ishaan fought back, winning the last two sets 11/7 and 11/4 to take home the top spot.
Earlier in the day, the semi-finals of the U/19 boys was a one-sided affair for Ankur Bhattacharjee, whose flair was on display as he dispatched Preyesh Suresh 3-1 (11/8, 11/4, 11/5) to set up the final clash against Abhinandh Pradhivadhi. Abhinandh beat second seed Choi Jiwook (Korea) in the other semi-final 3-0 (11/8, 11/6, 11/5). Jiwook had no answers for Abhinandh's prowess and looked like he was only trying to catch up the entire match.
Ananya Chande continued her solid run into the finals, beating Jennifer Varghese 3-1 in the semifinals. She carried on the momentum and clean striking from the quarterfinals, where she dispatched 4th seed Taneesha Kotecha. She made sure that Jennifer's rhythm from the quarterfinals, where she beat top seed Sayali Wani, was disrupted. The other finalist, Syndrela Das, comparatively had an easier run to the finals as she barely dropped any sets on the way. She beat Pritha Vartikar 3-0 in the semifinals comfortably to set up a chance to win the category.
The WTT Youth Contender Vadodara comes to an end today, proving to be a resounding success and opening up doors for more and bigger WTT events in India. This was the first WTT Youth Contender event held in India, and the hosts proved to be formidable.
Final Results:
U/19 Boys:
Ankur Bhattacharjee bt Abhinandh Pradhivadhi 3-0, 11/5, 18/16, 11/5
U/19 Girls:
Syndrela Das bt Ananya Chande 3-2, 11/8, 7/11, 5/11, 11/9, 11/6
U/15 Boys:
Sahil Rawat bt Atharva Nawarange 3-0, 11/4, 11/5, 11/6
U/15 Girls:
Divyanshi Bhowmick bt Satya Aspathi 3-1, 11/6, 7/11, 11/6, 11/7.
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