Indian boys and girls complete a golden sweep
New Delhi, May 29: The Under-19 and Under-15 boys and girls made India proud yet again with a clean sweep of all possible gold medals in the singles and the doubles in the South Asian Youth Table Tennis championships at Kandy on the concluding day today.
The boys and girls also added four silver medals to their tally in the singles events.
In the Under-19 boys singles final, Ankur Bhattacharjee defeated Jash Modi 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6 to win the gold, leaving Jash Modi to satisfy with the silver. Pakistan and Bangladesh won the bronze medals.
In the girls' section, Sayali Wani beat Pritha Vartikar 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8 to wear the crown, pushing Pritha to the second spot. Pakistan and hosts Sri Lanka won the bronze in this category.
Soham Mukherjee emerged as the singles champion in the Under-15 Boys, blanking out Sarthak Arya 11-7, 11-8, 11-7, while the bronze went the way of two Pakistan paddlers, Abbas Amjad Khan and Abdal Mohammed Khan.
In the girls' U-15 singles, Syndrela Das proved better than compatriot Divyanshi Bowmick with a 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 verdict. Subhashree Sreshtra of Nepal and Yoshini Jayawardane of Sri Lanka had to contend with the bronze medals.
In the U-19 Boys' doubles, Ankur and Jash combined to beat the Pakistani duo of Shayan Farooq and Taha Bilal 11-6, 13-11, 11-9 to grab the gold, while Taneesha Kotecha and Risha Mirchandani paired up to beat the Nepalese duo of Binaca Rai and Evana Thapa Magar 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 for the gold.
In the U-15 Boys' doubles, Sahil Rawat and Rupam Sardar defeated Abul Hashem Hasib and Mohammad Thamidur Rahman 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 for the top podium finish. In the girls' category, Kavya Bhatt and Ankolika Chakraborty routed the Sri Lankan pair of Yoshini and Shanya Muthuli 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 for the gold medal.
Ankur added another gold medal to his tally in the U-10 mixed doubles when he combined with Pritha Vartikar to put it across the Maldivian pair of Akhyar Ahmed Khalid and Fathima Dheema Ali for an 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 verdict. Later, Sarthak Arya and Syndrela Das beat Akiyan Bojith and Yoshini of Sri Lanka 11-8, 3-11, 11-2, 12-10 to complete the golden sweep.
Earlier, Indian paddlers won the team titles in U-15 Boys and Girls besides Under-19 Girls categories. In Under-19, the boys had already qualified and did not compete.
Indian Boys And Girls Defend South Asian Team Titles
New Delhi, May 28: The Under-19 Girls defeated hosts Sri Lanka 3-0 in the final of the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships at Kandy to win the team trophy yesterday evening.
In a dominating outing in Sri Lanka, the girls beat Nepal 3-0 in the semifinals before taking on the Sri Lankan girls. Sayali Wani beat Bimandee Bandara 1-6, 12-10, 11-8, Pritha Vartikar downed Tamadi Kavindya 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, and Taneesha Kotecha blanked out Divya Dharani 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 to lift the trophy.
In the Under-15 section final, the results were no different. Divyanshi Bowmick accounted for Yoshini Jayawardena 11-8, 11-7, 11-9, Syndrela Das followed it up with 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 win over Shanya Muthuli before Kavya Bhatt ended the ordeal of Samindi Weerasooriya to win 11-3, 11-8, 11-7.
In the Under-15 Boys final, also against the hosts, Sarthak Arya won both his singles, to be the architect of India's win. He first defeated Naviru Nethsitha 11-4, 11-5, 11-5, and Soham Mukherjee consolidated when he downed Akian Bojith 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 for a 2-0 lead. However, Sahil Rawat lost to Agasthya Ananditha 7-11, 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 10-12 as the Lankans pulled one down. But Sarthaka completed the job by winning the fourth rubber when he beat Akian Bojith 11-3, 11-8, 11-8.