South Point High School and Uttarpara Girls High School secured their positions in the finals of the ongoing Patterson Memorial Inter-school Table Tennis Championship at Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra here on Wednesday.

South Point blanked out Binodini Girls 3-0 while Uttarpara Girls secured a convincing 3-1 win over Laxmipath Singhania Academy (LSA) ‘A’ side.

In the individuals section, Ria Dutta of Konnagar Kalyan Parishad Balika Vidyalaya got the better of Apurva Hazra of LSA to make it to the finals and Sangita Mahadani of Kamala Girls defeated Ritika Kundu of Binodini Girls. In the boys’ team semi-finals, last year’s champions Manbhum Victoria Institution of Purulia booked their berth in the final after seeing off the challenge from Uttarpara Children’s Own Home ‘A’. They will take on Manbhum Purulia in the boys’ title-clash.

Young guns from the far-flung pockets of Bengal are making their mark in the tournament, and quite a few of them hold promise. One of them is Tirthankar Daripa. Hailing from an ordinary family background, Tirthanath and Biswajit Kumar of Manbhum Purulia Institution looked back at their journey to success at the junior level. The duo heaped praises on their coach from younger days, and recollected how they learnt the ropes of TT on a small-time school ground. Tirthanath’s brother Jagannath, who has played at the pre-quarters of a national school championship, praised his brother for coming a long way.

Or take the case of Souvik Mondal and Abhishek Ghosh of Syamaprasad Institution Narkeldanga, who powered their school to the tournament’s finals for the first time. For Souvick, the sport has become a family affair, as his brother Sourav has been a state champion at a West Bengal Table Tennis Association (WBTTA) event.

... contd.