Nagpur girl topples top seed Shalmali Mhatre
MUMBAI: Eleven-year-old Mallika Bhandarkar, who remained unscathed in the cadet and sub-junior sections, starred in yet another giant-killing act when she toppled top seed Shalmali Mhatre in the women’s pre-quarterfinals of the YMCA State-Ranking Table Tennis Championship, being played at the Andheri Sports Complex on Tuesday.
The VI standard student from Nagpur registered a hard-fought 12-10 11-5 6-11 8-11 11-6 12-10 win. Earlier, Mallika made it to the last eight in the junior section beating Radhika Patkar 4-2 8-11 8-11 11-4 11-5 11-4 14-12.
On a day when two top seeds were beaten, Divya Deshpande got the better of top seed Prajakta Tipale 11-6 15-13 11-9 8-11 5-11 11-8 to take the title in the girls under-20 section while Sanil Shetty beat Omkar Torgalkar 11-13 9-11 11-6 11-6 11-7 11-8 to claim the boys’ title later in the day.
But it was Mallika who was the star attraction of the day. “I had nothing to lose so I just went on with my game which helped in the end,” said Mallika, who has been participating in the women’s section since 2005.
“She is good in rallies and that made the difference,” said her coach Rohit Choudhary of Central Railways (Mumbai), who travels to Nagpur twice a week to train Mallika.
There is no combination on her bat, as it is plain on both sides, but the way she played many wondered what rubber she used. “There is nothing special, it’s plain,” clarified Mallika, showing her bat.
Divya Deshpande of Pune was up three games against Prajakta in the girls’ under-20 final, but lost track giving up the two games. “I got relaxed a little too much and that’s why I lost a couple of games,” reasoned out the Pune girl.
