New Delhi: Indian paddlers completed the formality in a way they were expected by claiming all the four team gold medals on the second day of the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at the IG Stadium here on Sunday.
Sri Lanka finished behind them to win the four silver medals, while the bronze medals were shared by Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Bhutan remained the only country not to finish among medals in the team events.
Indian paddlers’ results were a foregone conclusion, but the point interest remained about the way the new crop performing. In fact, all the fresh faces did really well while it was Sudhanshu Grover and Abhishek Yadav in the Junior Boys sections were extended by their rivals.
First, it was Grover who was surprised by Nepal’s Mani Lama who took the Indian to the brink before the latter won by a margin of three points. In the semifinal game, Lama gave some anxious moments in the second and third games to put pressure on Grover. The Indian played into Lama’s hands and allowed him the 2-1 lead. But in the fourth Grover came back nicely to restore parity. In the decider, Lama stretched the Indian but Grover finished strong.
Similarly, in the final southpaw Abhishek had pull out all tricks against Sri Lankan Niroshana Kahawathatha Liyanahe who matched the Indian stroke for stroke. After leading comfortable at 2-0, the Indian made errors at the next with his backhand not working as well. Taking the cue, the Sri Lankan took the game to bring some excitement in the match. But that was all he could do as Abhishek shut out his challenge. Then Abhishek combined with Rohit Rajasekhar to win the doubles to seal the fate of Sri Lanka.
The women teams in both the Junior and Cadet sections finished on top of the group to win the titles. The first stage in singles events have begun and the early indications are that India were on way to sweep the medal tally.
Results:
Junior Boys (Stage II-Final): India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Vimukthi Wijesiri 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, Abhishek Yadav bt Niroshana Kahawathatha 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, Rohit Rajasekhar bt Dilshan Ekanayaka 11-6, 11-4, 11-6); Semi-final: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Mani Lama 11-7, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, , Abhishek Yadav bt Awal Piyush 11-7, 11-4, 11-2, Utkarsh Gupta bt Nihal Shrestha 14-12, 11-9, 11-6), Sri Lanka bt Pakistan 3-0 (Niroshana Kahawathatha bt Rameez Muhammad 11-13, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5, Vimukhit Wijesiri bt Khurshid Tabish 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, Krishan Wickeramaratha bt Jamal Aziz 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 14-12).
Junior Girls (Round 3): India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Suthirtha Mukherjee bt Tharakie De Silver 11-8, 11-7, 11-5, Manika Batra bt Sankalpana Kannangara 11-4, 11-7, 11-5, Reeth Rishya Tennison bt Chamathasara Fernando 11-3, 11-4, 11-8; Nepal bt Bangladesh 3-1.
Cadet Boys: (Stage II-Final: Indian bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Birdie Boro bt Udaya Ranasinghe 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, Anirban Ghosh bt Jayasanka De Silva 11-7, 11-6, 11-5; Anirban Ghosh/Lalrin Puia bt Udaya Ranasinghe/Poornima Warusawithana 11-3, 11-7, 11-9); Semi-final: Indiaa bt Nepal 3-0 (Birdie Boro bt Santoo Shretha 11-4, 11-8, 11-5, Lalrin Puia bt Krishan Thapa 11-4, 11-7, 11-5, Anirban Ghosh/Birdie Boro bt Santoo Shretha/Krishna Thapa 12-10, 12-10, 11-3).
Cadet Girls: Round-3: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Sreeja Akula bt Pavani Sirisena 11-1, 12-10, 11-5, Sagarika Mukherjee bt Ri Karadanaarachchi 11-3, 11-5, 11-4, Sagarika Mukherjee/R. Harshavardini bt Pavani Sirisena 11-2, 11-3, 11-9).
