New Delhi: Indian paddlers expectedly swept all the four team gold medals on offer on the second day of the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships here Sunday. Sri Lanka finished behind India by winning the four silver medals, while the bronze were shared by Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Bhutan remained the only country not to finish among medals in the team events at the IG Stadium.
India's results were a foregone conclusion and the new crop of players lived up to the expectations. Only Sudhanshu Grover and Abhishek Yadav were extended by their opponents in the Junior Boys sections. First, it was Grover who was surprised by Nepal's Mani Lama. The Nepalese took the Indian to the brink before the Grover won by a margin of three points.
In the semifinal, 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 Abhishek had pull out all tricks against Sri Lankan Niroshana Kahawathatha Liyanahe who matched the Indian stroke for stroke. After leading 2-0, the Indian made errors with his backhand. 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. Indian 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 India are on course 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: India 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).
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