Nagpur: Climbing the ladder with solid performances, Nagpur’s table tennis player Jennifer Varghese stamped her authority in golden letters as she claimed her maiden international gold medal in the Under-19 age group at the WTT Youth Contender in Havirov, Czech Republic recently. The ever-improving paddler from the city registered a 3-2 victory over compatriot Taneesha Kotecha in a see-saw summit clash at the National Training Centre in Havirov.
The lanky Jennifer clinched the battle with a 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 4,-11, 11-5 verdict. Jennifer started the final on a positive taking the lead in the first game but Taneesha kept on fighting, cutting short her opponent’s lead. At 8-8, Jennifer upped her game and took three successive points to take the first game 11-8. Taneesha started the second game aggressively and did not give Jennifer any chance to take control of the game. She collected points easily and won the game 11-4. Jennifer started the third game with a changed mindset and took a handsome lead of 8-1 to boss over Taneesha.
Gold Rate
15April 2025
With hardly any fight from the Nashik lass, Jennifer cruised to a 11-7 win. But Taneesha once again fought back brilliantly to level the scores at 2-2 taking the fourth game 11-4. In the decider, Jennifer regrouped and brought her ‘A’ game to claim the fifth game 11-5 and title match 3-2.
Earlier in the semis, Jennifer crushed SayaliWani 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-5) while in the quarters, she got the better of Hanka Kodet of Czech Republic 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7). In the Round of 16 battle, the Nagpur girl, who trains under R Rajesh in Chennai, beat Karolina Holda of Poland 3-2 (11-4, 13-15, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7) after she thrashed Loy Ming Ying of Singapore 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-9). Her opening battle too was a tough one going into five games where Jennifer overcame a stiff challenge from Andreea Baiasu of Romania 3-2 (8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9).
The come from behind win gave her confidence which she took till the summit clash and delivered her best. Late last month Jennifer had won gold in the U-19 mixed doubles event in the WTT Youth Contender in Vadodara and also bagged a silver medal in the Under-17 girls singles event. Jennifer will be travelling to Berlin for her next tournament.
