![\"manika](\"images\/table-tennis\/manika%20batra101.jpg\")
New Delhi: India celebrated a rare success securing both the U-21 men\u2019s singles and U-21 women\u2019s singles titles at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Brazil Open at Santos.<\/p>\nNew Delhi: India celebrated a rare success securing both the U-21 men\u2019s singles and U-21 women\u2019s singles titles at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Brazil Open at Santos.<\/p>\n
After Manika Batra accounted for host nation\u2019s Caroline Kumahara 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 to take the Under-21 women\u2019s singles crown in what turned out to be a one-sided affair in the final, Soumyajit Ghosh defeated Benjamin Brossier of France 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2 in a thrilling seven games encounter to win the Under 21 men\u2019s singles title. The Indians also pocketed $1500 each for their title wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have played Caroline before this year and won the team event in the Slovak Republic,\u201d said Manika. \u201cI started the match confidently and tried to play slowly as she is a strong attacking player,\u201d added the Delhi girl.\n<\/p>\n
Manika, a more matured player, varied her speed and used lot of backspin to dicated terms throughout the final. Unable to cope with her opponent\u2019s bagful of tricks, Caroline succumbed to the disappointment of the hosts.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Manika had prevailed over compatriot Suthirtha Mukherjee 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10 in a tense match.<\/p>\n
Ghosh, who had beaten team mate G Sathiyan in the semi-finals 11-4, 11-7, 14-12, 9-11, 11-9 rather easily, knew Brossier was a hard nut to crack. Though Ghosh was up to the task, the Brazilian was time and again breathing down his neck in the final which saw fortunes fluctuating.<\/p>\n
The Indian, however, had the measure of his rival, particularly in the decider, taking a 4-0 lead. Pumping his fist and more vocal with every point he secured through topspin, Ghosh stayed closer to the table to finish the job in style. Brossier was equally vehement in playing the attacking game but Ghosh emerged a notch better than his French rival.<\/p>\n
What turned the corner at this juncture was the panicky \u2018time out\u2019 taken by the French. In fact, it worked to the Indian\u2019s advance as he just allowed a couple of points before completing an Indian double. Ghosh, the reigning national champion, said after the win. \u201cI was able to win those crucial points which made the difference in the sixth game. After that I was very confident of winning the match,\u201d said Ghosh.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sagarika Ghosh won the Cadet Girls singles title while Birdie Boro had to be satisfied with the silver in the Cadet Boys singles at the Guatemala Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis championships. Sagarika, the winner of South Asian Junior title recently, beat Sreeja 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 to take gold in the final. Birdie Boro lost 9-11, 8-11, 5-11 to Cuban Livan Martinez in the final of the Cadet Boys singles event. Earlier Boro had beaten team mate Anirban Ghosh 3-0 to enter the final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After Manika Batra accounted for host nation\u2019s Caroline Kumahara 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 to take the Under-21 women\u2019s singles crown in what turned out to be a one-sided affair in the final, Soumyajit Ghosh defeated Benjamin Brossier of France 8-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2 in a thrilling seven games encounter to win the Under 21 men\u2019s singles title. The Indians also pocketed $1500 each for their title wins.<\/p>\n \u201cI have played Caroline before this year and won the team event in the Slovak Republic,\u201d said Manika. \u201cI started the match confidently and tried to play slowly as she is a strong attacking player,\u201d added the Delhi girl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-latest"],"yoast_head":"\n
GOLD FOR SAGARIKA<\/strong><\/p>\nNew Delhi: India celebrated a rare success securing both the U-21 men\u2019s singles and U-21 women\u2019s singles titles at the GAC Group 2013 ITTF World Tour Brazil Open at Santos.<\/p>\n