New Delhi: Indian paddlers dominated the proceedings in the team events of the Junior Boys section in the 2017 Slovenia Junior and Cadet Open in Otocec, as Team India ‘B’ proved superior to Team India ‘A’ in the finals to share gold and silver, in that order, on Thursday.
The B team, consisting of Snehit Suravajjula, Parth Virmani and Ajukram Jain, turned the tables against the A team’s Jeet Chandra, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah 3-2.
Indeed, it was a surprise result in a closely-fought contest as the final went down to the wire. Yet again, it was Snehit who have India ‘B’ the ideal start when he beat Jeet Chandra 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-8 before Manav accounted for Parth Virmani 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 and Manush Shah who overcame Anukram Jain 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10.
Despite the momentum being in favour of India A, when Snehit returned to action he accounted for Manav 11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-5 to level score. Taking it further, Parth downed Jeet 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6 to secure the title for India B.
Earlier, the same trio had recorded a 3-1 quarter-final success against the outfit comprising Portugal’s Vitor Amorin and José Pedro Francisco, who joined forces with Iran’s Amin Ahmadian. With a semi-final place booked, the same margin of victory was posted against Nikhil Kumar and Victor Liu of the United States who joined hands with Thailand’s Yanapong Panagitgun.
Meanwhile, in the other half of the draw, India ‘A’ was put to a severe test by the Slovakian outfit formed by Jakub Zelinka, Stefan Petko and Daniel Orac in the quarterfinals. A 3-2 win was the end result with Manav being the backbone of success. He beat Stefan Petko 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 and Jakub Zelinka 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 in his singles.
Having negotiated a tough quarterfinal, the A team of India upstaged Chinese Taipei trio formed by Kao Min-Chi, Feng Yi-Hsin and Tai Min-Chi, the winners the previous week in Croatia, 3-1 in the semifinal.
Incidentally, the Taipei team which had clinched gold in Varazdin, had to be satisfied with the bronze medal at in Otocec.
