IITF tournament: India's Hansini Mathan Rajan beats Tokyo Olympian Hend Zaza

India's 12-year-old Hansini Mathan Rajan defeated Syria's Hend Zaza, the youngest athlete of this year's Tokyo Olympics to claim the ITTF tournament title.

India's Hansini Mathan Rajan defeated Syria's Hend Zaza, the youngest athlete of this year's Tokyo Olympics, to win the girls singles event at the 2021 ITTF Hopes and Challenge table tennis tournament in Amman.

Playing in the U-12 category, the reigning cadet national champion outplayed Zaza 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6 in the final played on December 14. Parth Prabhakar was India's entry in the boys singles event which was won by Iran's Komeil Niknejad Divshali.

Hansini, who has stayed back in Amman for the camp organised by the Asian Table Tennis Union, said the final was her toughest match of the competition. "I knew my opponent had gone to the Olympics earlier this year but I didn't think about that while playing her. There was no pressure and I just played my game," said the 12-year-old who considers her backhand the strongest aspect of her game.