PUNE: It were youngsters in focus as the final day of the Maharashtra State Table Tennis Championship witnessed players giving their best shot as they were one step away from their titles.

The sight of eight to 10 year olds, fighting it out with grit showed how seriously they have taken to the sport.

One such example is Shouren Soman who clinched the Midget Boys final defeating Swaroop Bhadalkar  8-11,11-8,11-7,11-4.

Top seeded Shouren displayed a good game as he scraped past his sixth seeded opponent. “This event has been a good one and I got to learn a lot here. Since I had played a lot of matches, I was tired, plus there was a lot of heat. I played seven matches on the last day which inlcueded three in the Cadet category and four in the Midget category,” Shouren said.

“The Midget semifinal was the most tough encounter for me since I have already played with that opponent twice and won but this time he gave a tough fight and I was almost going to lose in the decider but I managed to pull it off. This was the tournament where I got to play against a lot of friends. Sometime winning against friends makes it a special moment for me in any event,” Shouren added.Naisha impresses

Another youngster who stole the show on the final day was Naisha Rewaskar who though lost her final, put on a good performance. 

In the Midget Girls final, top seed Riana Bhoota beat second seeded Naisha Rewaskar 11-4,11-8,11-8. “The final was my seventh game against the same oppoent (Riana) and inspite of that I lost. Her top spins were hard and I could not do well in the service receivings,” Naisha said.

“My immediate target is to defeat Riyana. In the long term, I want to become national champion for which I will always try to improve myself,” Naisha added.