It has been a fruitful year for Utkarsh Baheti and Sanya Vats, and they both made it sweeter by living up to expectation and claiming the under-19 boys and girls titles, respectively, at the sub-junior/junior squash national championships here on Saturday.
In the boys under-19 final, Utkarsh was stretched to the limit by Rahul Baitha of Maharashtra.
Utkarsh, who scapled top seed Tushar Shahani in the semifinal, was quick to get off the blocks and took the first two games with comfortable ease.
But just when it look like the Jaipur boy was in a hurry to finish the final, Rahul came back fighting in the next two games and took the match to the decider, which tested the temperament and endurance of both the players.
The final game saw Utkarsh and Rahul give it their all in trying to outwit each other with deft drop shots and crisp volleys but the former showed better nerves to wrap the final with scoreline reading 11-8 11-6 10-12 5-11 16-14.
This is the second national title for Utkarsh, who was crowned as the boys under-17 champion in Ajmer last year and represented India at the 2018 Asian junior championships held in Chennai earlier this year.
Utkarsh, who trains at Surbhi Misra Sports Foundation in Jaipur, said he worked hard this season with the objective of improving his fitness and technique. He gave the credit to his supportive parents and coach Surbhi Misra, a former international squash player. Surbhi said: "It's Utkrash's hard work and dedication that has paid rich dividends. What has impressed me the most is that he has become more confident, which shows on the court."
In the girls under-19 final, Sanya's dream year continued. Facing Jannia Singh of Chandigarh in the final, Sanya came out with a perfect plan, never allowing Jannia to take control with a dominating 11-6 11-6 11-7 victory.
Keeping the ball long, Sanya pushed Jannia in the corner and occupied the 'T' throughout the match.
"Although this year has already been full of success and I had been playing well, the under-19 title is very special for me as this my first national title," said Sanya.
Her parents said Sanya has worked very hard this year, adding that credit should also go to her coaches and the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), which has been supportive.
RESULTS (all finals)
Girls U-19: Sanya Vats bt Jannia Singh 11-6 11-6 11-7
Girls U-17: Yoshna Singh bt Ananya Dabke 7-11 14-12 5-11 11-9 10-12
Girls U-15: Diksha Aurobindo bt Yuvna Gupta 9-11 11-9 11-9 9-11 1-11
Girls U-13: Kaavya Bansal bt Tiana Parasrampuria 11-2 11-7 11-6
Girls U-11: Anahat Singh bt Ipsa Mishra 11-4 11-2 11-6
Boys U-19: Utkrash Baheti bt Rahul Baitha 11-8 11-6 10-12 5-11 16-14
Boys U-17: Neel Joshi bt Yash Fadte 11-5 11-5 11-7
Boys U-15: Shreyas Mehta bt Paarth Ambani 11-7 11-9 11-9
Boys U-13: Yuvraj Wadhwani bt Rohan Arya Gondi 11-7 9-11 11-5 13-11
Boys U-11: Ritwik Singh bt Anshuman Jaising 11-7 11-8 11-9
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