- Boys from Nepal and Lanka join them
Itanagar: Yet again, the Indian girls displayed their regional supremacy with a clean slate to lead the single-group chart and win gold in the Under-19 team in the South Asian Youth Table Tennis at the Dorjee Khandu Indoor Stadium today.
In their last round-robin match, India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 to earn the gold medal and book their tickets to Doha for the Asian Youth Championships in July. Joining the Indians in Doha will be the girls from Sri Lanka. Maldives and Nepal, who finished in that order behind Lanka, will satisfy themselves with the bronze medals.
The Indian U-19 squad, comprising Yashaswini Ghorpade, Suhana Saini, Taneesha Kotecha and Jennifer Varghese, registered four 3-0 wins over their rivals in the five-team group, as was expected, for the top-of-podium finish.
In the Under-19 Boys, however, Nepal upstaged Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in a three-way tie to win gold and ensure their trip to Doha. Sri Lanka edged Bangladesh out on decimal points to follow Nepal to Qatar. Bangladesh and the Maldives ended their campaign with bronze.
Similarly, the Indian domination continued in the Under-15 Boys section as they led the single-group team events to take the gold. They did a clinical job, beating their opponents with an identical margin of 3-0 in the four matches they had to play. The team consisted of P.B. Abhinand, Priyanuj Bhattacharya and Punit Biswas. The Sri Lankans settled for silver, while Bangladeshis and Maldivians received the bronze medals.
The inevitable happened in the Under-15 Girls section, too. The Indians, led by Jennifer Varghese, Sayanika Maji and Avisha Karmakar, held sway over their neighbouring rivals, winning all their matches against their opponents 3-0. Following them on the medal podium were silver medallists Nepal and bronze winners Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Thus, India started their gold-winning spree with three team medals. Nepal bagged the fourth gold on offer on the second day of the championships.
The Indian U-19 Boys, who had already qualified after their top-four-team finish in the Asian Juniors in Laos last year, will join the fray in the individual events beginning tomorrow.
Results (Team):
Under-19 Boys: Round 3: Nepal bt Maldives 3-2; Bangladesh bt Sri Lanka 3-2.
Under-19 Girls: Round 3: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Suhana Saini bt Evana Magar 11-8, 6-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6, Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Biyanka Rai 11-3, 11-5, 11-7, Taneesha Kotecha bt Diya Deula 11-6, 11-3, 11-6); Maldives bt Bangladesh 3-0.
Round 4: India bt Maldives 3-0 (Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Malaak Binthi 11-3, 11-5, 11-7, Taneesha Kotecha bt Fathimath Ali 11-3, 11-4, 11-6, Jennifer Varghese bt Mishka Ibrahim 11-2, 11-6, 11-6); Sri Lanka bt Nepal 3-2.
Round 5: Indian bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Lesanya Sethumdee 11-1, 11-6, 11-3, Suhana Saini bt Divya Gamage 11-5, 11-6, 11-8, Taneesha Kotecha bt Rehansa Annadige 11-2, 11-4, 19-17); Nepal bt Bangladesh 3-1.
Under-15 Boys: Round 3: India bt Maldives 3-0 (Priyanuj Bhattacharya bt Umyr Mohamed 11-7, 11-5, 11-3, PB Abhinand bt Awn Ibrahim 11-3, 11-2, 11-4, Priyanuj/Punit Biswas bt Ymyr/Awn 11-3, 11-5, 11-3); Bangladesh bt Nepal 3-0.
Round 4: Sri Lanka bt Maldives 3-0; India bt Bangladesh 3-0 (Punit Biswas bt Rahman Mhatabur 11-2, 11-4, 11-5, PB Abhinand bt Rahman Mohamed 11-5, 11-2, 11-2, Priyanuj/Aabhinand bt Rahman/Tahmidur 11-5, 11-4, 14-12).
Round 5: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Priyanuj Bhattacharya bt Mohamed Akram 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, PB Abhinand bt Janith Batugedara 11-3, 11-7, 11-5, Abhinand/Priyanuj bt Akram/Janith 11-8, 11-6, 11-4); Nepal bt Maldives 3-0.
Under-15 Girls: Round 3: India bt Sri Lanka 3-0 (Jennifer Varghese bt Shamalsha Perera 11-7, 11-2, 6-11, 11-8, Aavisha Karmakar bt Kavindya Tamadi 10-12, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, Jennifer/Sayanika Maji bt Kavindya/Mudiya Jayasinghe 11-5, 11-4, 11-8); Bangladesh bt Maldives 3-2.
Round 4: India bt Maldives 3-0 (Sayanika Maji bt Aishath Nafiz 11-4, 11-2, 11-1, Jennifer Varghese bt Mishka Ibrahim 11-2, 11-5, 11-5, Jennifer/Avisha bt Mishka /Aishath Zaara 11-3, 11-2, 11-5); Sri Lanka bt Nepal 3-2.
Round 5: India bt Nepal 3-0 (Sayanika Maji bt Subhashree Shrestha 11-4, 11-4, 11-3, Jennifer Varghese bt Suwal Karina 11-2, 11-6, 11-5, Jennifer/Avisha Karmakar bt Subhashree/Suwal 11-2, 13-11, 11-3; Sri Lanka bt Bangladesh 3-0.
–TTFI
