Muscat: Girl power was in evidence at the Open Table Tennis Tournament organised by the Indian Social Club Muscat, as teenager Srinidhi Murali bagged three crowns and Jyothsna Rao won the under-10 title.
Indian School Muscat's Srinidhi, 15, rallied for a 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 13-15, 11-4, 11-8 triumph over Michelle Pereira of Indian School Ghubra.
Earlier, she teamed-up with junior schoolmate Ameya Thakur to get the better of Richard Oppenheim and Shariva Phanse 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-4,7-11, 11-7,11-6 for the mixed doubles title.
Srinidhi claimed her third title when she beat Nerissa D'Mello 11-4, 12-10, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 in the under-16 final.
Jyothsna dropped the first game but recovered well to beat Armaan 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 in the under-10 final.
Veteran Nitin Vaidya, the top seed, avenged his quarterfinal defeat to eighth seed Richard Oppenheim by turning the table on his British rival for a 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 5-11, 11-3, 11-7.
Oppenheim had beaten Vaidya in the quarterfinals league phase of the 14-day tournament which attracted close to 180 entries.
Teenager Mohammad Bin Hamdi Al Barwani lifted the Omani singles crown with a brilliant performance that saw him outplay Anwar Al Balushi in six games 11-9, 13-11, 10-12, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8.
Habib Bin Abdul Nabi Macki, Vice-President of Oman Olympic Committee, presided over the finals and distributed the prizes to the winners.
Oppenheim, however, had the consolation of winning the men's doubles title with R. Subramanian when they beat top seeded duo of Ameya Thakur and Anil Kumar for a 11-8, 1-11, 11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 3-11, 11-5 verdict.
The tournament was sponsored by Muscat Insurance Services LLC, Doha Bank, Khimji's Watches, Al-Ahlia Insurance Co, Oman United Insurance Co., Supa Sportsman, United Engineering Services LLC, Oman Oil Marketing Co./Castrol, Times of Oman and Al Shabiba Newspaper.
