Rajgir (Bihar): Priyanuj Bhattacharyya of Assam rallied from the loss of the opening game to beat Tamil Nadu’s PB Abhinand 4-1 and win the boys’ singles gold medal in the table tennis competitions of Khelo India Youth Games 2025 Bihar in the Rajgir Sports Complex Indoor Hall here on Saturday.
The Assam lad controlled the match after the opening game and did not look in trouble at all as he emerged on top.
Kavya Bhatt of Maharashtra won the girls’ singles gold, defeating M. Hansini of Tamil Nadu 4-1 after conceding the opening game on extra points. A Thane-based Khelo India Athlete, Kavya Bhatt, had lost to Hansini, a Chennai-based Khelo India Athlete, in an earlier tournament, but played attacking table tennis to extract sweet revenge on Saturday.
Kavya’s victory enabled Maharashtra claim two of the four gold medals at stake in the table tennis competition. Tamil Nadu was the only State that had a podium finisher in each of the four events while Assam was the only other team to claim multiple medals in the exhalating competition.
Priyanuj and Kavya’s wins were impressive as they showed their skills and determination under pressure to bag well-deserved gold medals. Kavya, in particular, seemed to have picked up some clues from how Divya Bhowmick had taken a game off Hansini in the semifinal. Though she took time to get into a groove, there was no stopping her as she won the big points.
Tamil Nadu’s Balamurugan Muthu Rajasekharan and Divyanshi Bhowmick of Maharashtra, both Khelo India scholars, won the boys’ and girls’ singles bronze medal playoff matches. Balamurugan defeated Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra with his smart play. Divyanshi beat her teammate, Sukrati Sharma, coming back from a shaky start to win the match in straight games.
The results:
Boys’ singles (final): Priyanuj Bhattacharyya (Assam) beat PB Abhinandh (Tamil Nadu) 7-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6. Bronze medal match: Balamurugan Muthu Rajasekharan (Tamil Nadu) beat Kushal Chopda (Maharashtra) 11-8, 11-5, 11-8.
Girls’ singles (final): Kavya Bhatt (Maharashtra) beat M Hansini (Tamil Nadu) 12-14, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9. Bronze medal match: Divyanshi Bhowmick (Maharashtra) beat Sukrati Sharma (Maharashtra) 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.
(IANS)
