Times News NetworkKanpur: Gujarat’s Vivan Dave and Maharashtra’s Divyanshi Bhaumik emerged champions in the Under-17 boys’ and girls’ categories respectively at the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis championships held at The Sports Hub (TSH) here on Saturday.Vivan Dave overcame a stiff challenge from Karnataka’s Atharva Navrange to win the boys’ final 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4. Atharva made a strong start by winning the opening game, but Vivan fought back to take the next two and establish a 2-1 lead.Atharva refused to give up and levelled the match at 2-2 by winning the fourth game 11-9. However, Vivan displayed superior stamina and endurance in the decider, dominating the proceedings to win the fifth game 11-4 and seal the title.In the girls’ final, Divyanshi Bhaumik defeated Tamil Nadu’s Ananya Muralidharan 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3. Divyanshi won the opening game, but Ananya fought back to level the match. The third game proved decisive as Divyanshi edged out her opponent 12-10 before wrapping up the title with a comfortable 11-3 victory in the fourth game.Earlier, Divyanshi defeated West Bengal’s Ankolika Chakraborty 14-12, 11-8, 11-4 in the semifinal, while Ananya Muralidharan overcame Maharashtra’s Naisha Rewaskar 5-11, 16-14, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 in a thrilling five-game encounter.In the boys’ semifinals, Vivan Dave defeated Tamil Nadu’s Vishrut Ramakrishnan 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-7. Atharva Navrange beat Maharashtra’s Prateek Tulsani 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 to book his place in the final.On the seventh day of the championship, former international player and eight-time national champion Indu Puri, Dronacharya Awardee Sandeep Gupta, UPTTA chairman Sanjeev Pathak, UPTTA secretary Arun Banerjee, Ankit Gupta, Piyush Agarwal and Sanjay Tandon were among those present as chief and special guests.
