Vadodara, Aug. 13 -- Sahil Rawat of the PSPB Academy and West Bengal's Syndrela Das emerged as the Under-17 Youth Boys' and Girls' champions at the first UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships, closing their campaign with victories that were as contrasting as they were compelling at the SAMA Indoor Stadium here today.

For Sahil, the final proved almost anticlimactic. Facing Jammu & Kashmir's Ritvik Gupta, a player riding high after his giant-killing act against top seed Sarthak Arya of Odisha in the quarterfinals, the PSPB Academy paddler expected a stern challenge. Instead, he found himself in cruise control.

Ritvik, sharp and aggressive in his previous matches, appeared strangely out of rhythm, surrendering the first two gam...