The Indian boys’ and girls’ teams posted an impressive tally of 10 gold and four silver medals at the SAF Junior Table Tennis Championships that concluded at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Sports Complex in Shillong on Tuesday.
On the final day of the meet, India’s paddlers triumphed in all the six finals they competed in, to add to the four gold they won in the team events earlier.
In the boys and girls (juniors) and cadet categories, India were assured of a total of four gold medals after the semi-finals as all the eight contestants were from the home side.
In the junior boys’ section, second seed Abhishek Yadav upset top ranked Sudhanshu Grover 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 while in the junior girls section Reeth Tennison emerged victorious when she overcame a tough challenge from Mallika Bhandarkar to win 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 6-11,11-7, 11-13, 11-4 in the best of seven finals.
In the cadet boys’ section, Utkarsh Gupta won 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 against Birdie Bora while Karnam Spoorthy emerged triumphant against Sutirtha Mukherjee 3-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 13-11.for the cadet girls’ gold.
Southpaw Yadav combined guile with precision to shut out the challenge of Grover despite losing the first and the third games. Grover did show his aggressive pattern of play, but Yadav was up to the task.
Once Yadav gained an upper hand in the fourth game, he ran away with the next two games. India’s fifth gold on the day came through the junior boys’ doubles pairing of Abhishek Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover who beat Nepal’s Mani Lama and Anish Shrestha 11-8, 11-8, 11-3. Reeth and Mallika then combined to make it a memorable outing for India as they beat Sri Lankans Ruvini Sankalpana and Chandima Madushani 14-12, 11-5, 11-6.
The results: Boy’s: Juniors (singles): Abhishek Yadav bt Sudhanshu Grover 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7. Doubles: Sudhanshu & Abhishek bt Mani Lama & Anish Shrestha (Nep) 11-8, 11-8, 11-3. Cadet: Utkarsh Gupta (Ind) bt Birdie Boro (Ind) 11-7, 11-9, 11-6.
Girl’s: Junior (singles): T. Reeth Rishya (Ind) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (Ind) 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-4. Doubles: Reeth & Mallika bt Ruvini & Chandima 14-12, 11-5, 11-6. Cadet: Karnam Spoorthy (Ind) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (Ind) 3-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 13-11.