12 Kolkata: Bengal boy Ankur Bhattacharjee clinched a ‘double' claiming the men's and U-19 boys' titles in the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Bhattacharjee, who narrowly missed the title in his previous final in Thiruvananthapuram, made amends with a commanding 4-0 victory over PSPB's Manav Thakkar to secure his second men's singles crown. Despite trailing initially, the rising star of Indian table tennis Bhattacharjee, representing PSPB, showed great character in getting past Olympian Thakkar 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9.
The 18-year-old Bhattacharjee was in sublime form breezing past Akash Pal in the quarters. Despite Akash's efforts to extend rallies and test Bhattacharjee, he couldn't match the latter's precision and consistency. Ankur executed his shots flawlessly, leaving little room for error and ensuring his place in the final with an authoritative performance winning 11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8.
Bhattacharjee blanked Tamil Nadu's PB Abhinand 4-0 to bag the U-19 boys' title too. Bhattacharjee displayed a clinical precision in outsmarting his opponent and winning 3-1 (11-6, 11-2, 13-11, 11-4). Bhattacharjee ovecame Kushal Chopda of Maharashtra 11-4, 14-12, 11-7, while Abhinand defeated Bengal's Punit Biswas 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 in the semis.
Bengal's another rising talent Syndrela Das lost to Mahasrashtra's Taneesha Kotecha 15-17, 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 in the last-four clash as Taneesha went on to win the title.
Bhattacharjee and Das had won the titles in boys and girls sections in the U-19 category in Thiruvananthapuram last week.
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