CITY paddler Jennifer Varghese added another feather to her cap by annexing youth girls singles (U-17) title at the UTT 86th Inter-State Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championship under way in Vadodara on Sunday. In the all important final, Jennifer outsmarted Maharashtra colleague Divyanshi Bhowmick 4-1. Jennifer took the first two games at 11-7 and 11-8 then Divyanshi pulled on back taking the third game 11-4. But Jennifer pulled her socks to take the next two games at 11-7 each for the crown.

 

In the semis, Jennifer had blanked Riana Bhoota, also of Maharashtra 3-0 (11-3, 12-10, 11-8). Jennifer was national champion in U12 in 2019 and U15 national champion in 2023 and now with the U17 title, she has completed a hat-trick of sorts. As this was final championship for the year 2024, so the winner is declared as National Champion for the year 2024. In national championship, a player scores double the points than in other ranking tournaments.