Indore: Top-seeded Anirban Ghosh defeated compatriot Siddhesh Pande 4-3 to enter the Junior Boys singles semifinal of the ITTF 2016 India Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championships at the Abhay Prashal here on Saturday.
Third-seeded Manav Thakkar followed him suit with a 4-1 rout of Taipei’s Huang Yan-Chang but Jeet Chandra, despite a valiant effort, bowed out in the quarterfinal to another Taipei boy Tai Ming-Wei 3-4 while Indian Ronit Bhanja lost 3-4 in another quarterfinal to Lai Chi-Chien of Taipei.
No doubt, in this Taipei versus India battle, the visitors’ dominance has been very much evident and more or less complete, too. Yet, some Indian paddlers proved gritty customers as did Pande against Anirban. Pande led 3-2 but Anirban was up to the task with strong nerves to take the last two games for his semifinal berth.
Courageous Jeet Chandra revived interest in his quarterfinal after trailing 0-3 to do justice to his selection. The boy from West Bengal, playing defensively, opened out suddenly to catch his Taipei rival Tai Ming-Wei unawares. Unsettled, the Taiepi boy had no answers to Jeet’s beautiful returns and good forehands which took him near the doorstep of semifinals.
But the Taipei boy, benefitting from coach Yan Chiu En’s illegal advice—he was red-carded by umpire T. Bhaskar—regained composure to win the decider and book his berth. In the other semifinal, it was easy for Manav Thakkar who beat Huang Yan-Cheng 4-1
Top-seeded Archana Girish Kamath lost steam as she went down to Taipei’s Wu Yi-Hua 3-4 in Junior Girls quarterfinals, but third-seeded Sreeja Akula and second seed Varuni Jaiswal entered the semifinals to guarantee a silver and bronze for India.
Sreeja, precariously placed against the sixth-seed Chien Tung-Chuan at 1-3, made a fantastic recovery to outwit her Taipei rival taking the last three games and earn a semifinal showdown against Varuni, who outlasted Priyanka Pareek to post a 4-2 win. But what shocked everyone was the way Archana, after leading 3-2, surrendered to the pressure of Wu who played brilliantly first to level 3-3 and then the decider with a lot to spare.
Only Manush Shah of India ensured himself at least a bronze medal when he beat compatriot Jayabrata Bhattacharjee 3-1 to move into the Cadet Boys semifinals. But for this, it was a pure Taipei show as their boys sent all Indian rivals packing in the quarterfinals.
However, a right balance was struck when two Indian and two Taipei Cadet Girls entered the semifinals. This meant at least a host team member is assured of a silver medal, apart from the bronze. In an extended quarterfinal, Ishita Gupta defeted Swastika Ghosh 3-0 but not before Ishita was made to earn her points. In the second quarterfinal, Manushtree Patril won 3-1 against Liu Wei and the Mumbai girl did well to strike a nice rhythm after losing the first game.
In the third, India’s Vanshika Bhargava just about managed to stretch her Taipei rival Chang Ju-Chia but could not stop her advancing into the semifinals. In the fourth match between Taipei’s Huang and Chien, the former’s greater skills stood her in good stead despite Chien challenging her after levelling score in the fourth game. In the decider, Huang won on her second match point, after saving one of Chien’s.
Results:
Junior Boys Singles (Quarterfinals): Anirban Ghosh (Ind) beat Siddhesh Pande (Ind) 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 13-11, 11-7, Tai Ming-Wei (TPE) beat Jeet Chandra (Ind) 11-5, 11-8, 13-11, 6-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, Manav Thakkar (Ind) beat Huang Yan-Cheng (TPE) 11-8, 11-5, 11-4, 3-11, 11-4, Lai Chi-Chien (TPE) beat Ronit Bhanja (Ind) 3-11, 12-14, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9.
Junior Girls Singles (Quarterfinals): Wu Yi-Hua (TPE) beat Archana Girish Kamath (Ind) 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 7-11, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7, Su Pei-Ling (TPE) beat Chang Ju-Chia (TPE) 11-13, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, Sreeja Akula (Ind) beat Chen Tung-Chuan (TPE) 10-12, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7, Varuni Jaiswal (Ind) beat Priyanka Pareek (Ind) 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5.
Cadet Boys Singles (Quarterfinals): Tai Ming-Wei (TPE) beat Yashansh Malik (Ind) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, Huang Yan-Cheng (TPE) beat Wesley Do Rosario (Ind) 11-9, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9, Huang Hung-Chou (TPE) beat Sohan Pandya (Ind) 12-10, 10-12, 11-2, 11-7, Manush Shah (Ind) beat Jayabrata Bhattacharjee (Ind) 9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-5.
Cadet Girls Singles (Quarterfinals): Ishita Gutpa (Ind) beat Swastika Ghosh (Ind) 12-10, 13-11, 11-5, Manushree Patil (Ind) beat Liu Wei-Wei (TPE) 9-11, 11-9,11-9, 11-7, Chang Ju-Chia (TPE) beat Vanshika Bhargava (Ind) 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, Huang Yu-Jie (TPE) beat Chien Tung-Chhuan (TPE) 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-13, 13-11.
