Day 2: India enter semifinals, book World Juniors berth

New Delhi, July 21:  It was all about planning and execution. If coach Bhawani Mukherjee took care of the first part, the Indian boys did exceedingly well to follow his plans to the T on the second day of the NCC Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at the Thyagraj Stadium here on Thursday. Having to play four matches-three in the league phase and one quarterfinal game-the hosts tasted cent per cent success, but what made their day was the hard-fought victory in the quarterfinals against Chinese Taipei, whom they beat 3-2. And with that the junior boys ensured themselves at least a bronze medal and, more importantly, a berth in the Junior World Championships to be held in Bahrain this December. This will be the second time in a row that the boys are entering the world meet. The architect of India’s passage into the worlds was none other than Harmeet Deasi. He played one of the best matches of his life to win the reverse singles after having lost his first singles earlier. After being down 4-8 in the deciding game, the Indian paddlers took seven straight points to seal the fate of his opponent as well as Taipei. Soumyajit Ghosh gave a winning start to the hosts. Desai lost his singles but G. Sathyan provided India the lead.  Then it was left to Ghosh who after a fine first game lost his reverse singles and Desai did the rest to help India win. But the junior girls, who went down to the marauding Chinese 0-3, began well in the morning but could not sustain the pace needed in the quarterfinals against title-holders. Now they will have to play in the 5-8 position playoffs and see if they can grab the last berth to Bahrain. The Indian cadet boys too are in a similar position and they will appear in the 5-8 position playoffs, but it is curtains for the cadet girls. Junior boys: (quarterfinals): China bt Singapore 3-0; India bt Chinese Taipei 3-2 (Soumyajit Ghosh bt Tzu-Hsiang Hung 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 12-0, Harmeet lost to Chia-Sheng Lee 11-7, 8-11, 3-11, 7-11, Satyan bt Chia-Liang Hsu 12-10, 11-8, 4-11, 8-11, 11-7, S. Ghosh lost to Chia-Shang Lee 11-13, 8-11, 11-7, 4-11, Harmeet bt Tzu-Hsiang Hung 14-16, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8;  Korea bt Hong Kong 3-0; Japan bt Thailand 3-1. League: Group 1: India bt Jordon 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Abo Yaman Zaid 11-3, 11-7, 11-8; G. Sathiyan bt Zeyad Aldmaisy 11-6, 11-8, 11-7; Sourav Saha bt Tariq Salameh 11-4, 11-6, 11-5); Thailand bt Iran 3-2; India bt Hong Kong 3-1 (Soumyajit Ghosh lost to Mak King Ho 13-11, 11-8, 2-11, 6-11, 9-11; Harmeet Desai bt Chiu Chung Hei 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10; G. Sathiyan bt Hung Daryl 8-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-2; Ghosh bt Chiu Chung Hei 8-11, 11-9, 14-12, 13-11); Iran bt Jordon 3-0; India bt Iran 3-0 (Soumyajit Ghosh bt M. Rouintanesfahani 11-6, 11-7, 11-9; G. Sathiyan bt Seyed Omrani 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; Sourav Saha bt A. Molarajabi 6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-5); Hong Kong bt Thailand 3-0. Group 2: Chinese Taipei bt Sri Lanka 3-0; Singapore bt Iraq 3-0; Korea bt Kazakhstan 3-0; Taipei bt Singapore 3-0; Korea bt Sri Lanka 3-0; Kazakhstan bt Iraq 3-1; Korea bt Taipei 3-1; Singapore bt Kazakhstan 3-0. Junior girls: (quarterfinals): China beat India 3-0 (Zhu Yuling bt Mallika Bhandarkar 11-6, 11-8, 11-2; Zhao Yan bt Manika Batra 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Gu Yuting bt Reeth Rishya Tennison 11-4, 11-3, 11-2; Singapore bt Chinese Taipei 3-0; Korea bt Hong Kong 3-0; Japan bt Thailand 3-0. League: Group 1: Hong Kong bt Kazakhstan 3-0; Singapore bt Qatar 3-0; Singapore bt India 3-1; Kazakhstan bt Qatar 3-0. Group 2: Korea bt Thailand 3-0; Chinese Taipei bt Sri Lanka 3-0; Iran bt Jordan 3-0; Korea bt Chinese Taipei 3-1; Thailand bt Iran 3-0; Sri Lanka bt Jordan 3-1. Cadet boys: (quarterfinals): China bye; Korea beat India 3-0 (Kim Min Hyeok bt Utkarsh Gupta 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10; Lim Jong Hong bt Abhishek Yadav 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7; Kim and Lim bt Gupta and Yadav 11-9, 11-9, 11-8); Chinese Taipei bt Singapore 3-2; Hong Kong bye. Cadet girls:  China bye; Chinese Taipei bt Singapore 3-0; Korea bt Japan 3-0; Hong Kong bye.