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Pune paddler Panse also wins u-21 title, after beating u-18 finalist
Fifth seed wins second title of tourney after upsetting second seed Aarush Galpalli in final.
Pune: Fifth seed Aryan Panse triumphed over second seed Aarush Galpalli 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-9 in the final of the Sharada district ranking table tennis tournament 2019 played at Sharada Sports Centre in Karvenagar on Monday, to win the youth boys singles (under-21) title.
Panse continued his good form after beating Adarsh Gopal in Sunday’s junior boys singles (u-18) final as he started this final strongly, winning the first two games in no time. His aggressive game took Galpalli by surprise and the latter found his opponent tough on court.
The second seed managed to half the deficit by winning the third game, but it did not come without a price. Galpalli ended up tiring himself and failed to get his act together in the fourth, where he only managed to register a paltry return of three points.
Complacency looked to have kicked in the fifth, as Panse, in what could have been the last game of the match, went 7-0 down, losing all four points on his service. He seemed to be at odds with himself and carried on motivating himself, hoping to regain the form from the first two games.
At one point it looked like all was lost for Panse when he was trailing in the sixth game and looked exhausted. However, a few errors from Galpalli saw the game come back on serve at 8-8 and Panse won the remaining two points on his serve before winning a crucial one on his opponent’s serve that handed him his second championship of the tournament.
Aryan Panse: “In yesterday’s final, I felt I was pushed a little more, but that was a learning experience. Today, I focused on my serve and did what I can do best. Even my opponent’s services were very good, quite hard to receive, and that’s what cost me two games. In the fifth game I started playing a little safe and stopped being aggressive. Even in the last game, there was a point when he had the lead, but I managed to play my aggressive game again and that’s what helped me win.”
Aarush Galpalli: “My attack wasn’t great today and that’s why I lost. I don’t think if I stopped him from moving so much the result would’ve been any different because his attack was very powerful. If I didn’t make him move on court, I would lose crucial seconds to prepare myself for the next shot.”
