New Delhi: India added six more gold on the concluding day to complete the sweep of all 10 gold medals on offer in the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at Mount Lavinia, near Colombo, on Sunday.
In addition, they also claimed four silver medals for a total of 14 medals from this vital regional championships’ outing.
After winning four gold medals in team events on the first two days of the three-day championships, the Indian paddlers continued their domination in two doubles events and followed them up with gold in all singles this evening.
Earlier, the Indian and Sri Lankan juniors had booked their berths in the Asian Juniors, to be held in Ansan (Korea) from June 29 to July 4.
In Junior Boys final, to-seeded Manav Thakkar defeated Parth Virmani 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9 for the gold. The Delhi boy, who was seeded second, had to satisfy with the silver while the bronze medals went to Sri Lanka’s P.D. Umesh Tennakon and KDV Madhushan, who lost their semi-final matches to Manav and Parth, respectively.
In Junior Girls final, No. 1 seed Archana Girish Kamath accounted for No. 2 seeded Priyanka Pareek 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 to share the gold and silver medals. There was no difference in the script as hosts SHS Imasha De Siilva and K.Hansani Puimila ended with singles bronze as losing semifinalists. Though Archana lost her first game in the semifinals, she quickly settled the issue against Imasha with a 6-11, 11-2, 11-0, 11-4 triumph. For Priyanka, it was a straight-game affair against her Lankan opponent.
In Cadet Boys final, top-seed H. Jeho downed No.2 Chinmaya Somaiya 11-1, 12-10,12-10, 11-5 to share the gold and silver medals, respectively. Jeho, who beat Bangladesh’s Mohutasin Ahmed 3-0 in the semifinals and Chinmaya, who downed AMCD Bandara Alahakoon 3-2 in the second semifinals, had to be content with the bronze medals.
In Cadet Girls, Anusha Kutumbale, No.1 seed, overcame a stiff resistance from No. 2 seed Vanshika Bhargava, to win gold with a 9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3. The Madhya Pradesh paddler, playing an attacking game in the decider, stopped the Delhi girl on her tracks despite the later who led comfortably 2-1 and then squandering her chance in the fourth game.
Sri Lankan girls—Asvini W Jithara and K. Dilmi Hirushika—who lost the semifinals to Indians in straight games managed to win both bronze medals.
In Junior Boys doubles, Manav Thakkar and Parth Virmani combined well to beat the Sri Lankan pair of Umesh and Madhushan while Archana and Priyanka beat Imasha and Hansini to claim the two doubles gold medals.
